An antisemitic cartoon depicting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev as a Jew wearing a yarmulke with a huge nose and sidelocks is circulating on Iranian social media.
The cartoon is signed “Rabbi Ilham Alef”, an allusion to Aliyev's supposedly Jewish name.
According to analysts, the cartoon is part of a large-scale antisemitic campaign that the Iranian regime has recently unleashed. The antisemitic card is being played by the Iranian regime in the hope of provoking Shiite marginal circles to revolt against the "Jewish government of Aliyev-Alef."
Commentators note that President Aliyev has played recently an important role in the reconciliation between Ankara and Jerusalem. He is a key figure in the formation of the Muslim Turkic bloc from the former Soviet republics, where a total of about 80 million representatives of the Turkic ethnic group live.
The ayatollahs do not want to attack the Turkic bloc directly, commentators explain, but fear the Azerbaijani-Israeli ties as they view these ties as threatening to the Iranian regime. Therefore they chose as a target for an attack the Azeri connection with Israel.
In November, Baku announced it would be opening an embassy in Israel. A month earlier, Defense Minister Benny Gantz made an official visit to Azerbaijan, which was dedicated to security and policy issues, and aimed at fostering defense cooperation between the countries.
During the visit, Gantz emphasized the importance of maintaining strategic relations between the State of Israel and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as the importance of continuing to work towards regional and global peace and stability.
During his meetings, Minister Gantz reflected on the changes in the Middle East region following the signing of the Abraham Accords, and discussed Israel's developing ties with Turkey and additional countries in the region and the world.