Netanyahu plans five-day visit to Azerbaijan May 8

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit Azerbaijan for five days, meeting with President Ilham Aliyev and members of the local Jewish community amid ongoing U.S. nuclear talks with Iran. The visit highlights Azerbaijan's growing role as a diplomatic intermediary, particularly regarding its relations with Israel, Turkey, and the broader Abraham Accords forum. Azerbaijan, a key regional player with a strategic border with Iran, is seen by Israeli and U.S. officials as uniquely positioned to bridge divides among regional actors. The country is a significant supplier of oil to Israel and a leading purchaser of Israeli military hardware, with their partnership playing an important role during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War. Azerbaijan's interest in joining the Abraham Accords and leading normalization efforts among non-Arab Muslim states further underscores its rising diplomatic importance. The visit also carries logistical significance, as Azerbaijan is not a party to the International Criminal Court, eliminating the risk of arrest for Netanyahu while abroad.