BREAKING NEWS

Liberman, Oren to lead Israeli delegation observing Azeri elections

A four-MK delegation is set to observe Sunday’s election in Azerbaijan, led by former foreign minister MK Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu), chairman of the Israel-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship group, and including ex-ambassador to the US MK Michael Oren (Kulanu), MK Sofa Landver (Yisrael Beytenu), and MK Yoel Razbozov (Yesh Atid).
The four lawmakers arrived in Baku on Friday to supervise the election in the secular Muslim country, which has a 700 km border with Iran.
As foreign minister, Liberman worked to strengthen Israeli ties with Azerbaijan, and said on Saturday night that it is “an important country and a good friend of Israel.
“Even in the time of the Soviet Union, [Azerbaijan] was known to treat its Jewish community well, and there is no anti-Semitism there. We must continue strengthening our relations with Azerbaijain,” he stated.
Azerbaijan is considered the Muslim country friendliest to Israel, and the two countries have close ties and significant trade. Azerbaijan is Israel’s biggest oil provider, and trade between the countries reaches $5b., more than with France.
In recent years, Liberman, then-president Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon visited Baku.