The Histradrut trade union federation is considering joining Israel’s three airlines in a nationwide strike, pending the approval of an air travel deal with the European Union. [Times of Israel] Azerbaijan’s foreign minister will visit Israel for the first time in 22 years. [Algemeiner] An investigation recently revealed the helicopter crash that killed two pilots near Kibbutz Revadim last month was caused by a break in the rear rotor blade. [Y Net] The new arms deal will allow Israel, for the …More

Azerbaijan will not aid Israel with a base for a possible attack on Iran, the country’s envoy to Pakistan said in an interview today. “One should not think of it, since a large number of the Iranian population is Azeri and furthermore Azerbaijan has been following a policy of non-interference in the affairs of other countries,” Dashgin Shikrov told Pakistani news agent, The News International. He added: “Azerbaijan is a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and nobody should …More

Yigal Ben Tzvi and Avshalom Hurvitz turn non-kosher fish eggs into a successful business. [The Jerusalem Post] What’s your opinion on the Flame virus? Read what Dan Margalit has to say about it. [Israel Hayom] The Empire State Building will be lit in blue and white like the Israeli flag for the Israel Day Parade on June 3. [Arutz Sheva 7] The Arava Desert in Israel produces about 150,000 tons of peppers. [Israel 21c] Azerbaijan foiled an attempt to stage terrorist attacks while the country was hosting …More

Operatives linked to Iran tried to kill foreign diplomats, including Israelis and Americans, in at least seven countries over 13 months, the Washington Post reported. New evidence uncovered by investigators in four countries linked the assassination attempts to either Iran-backed Hezbollah militants or operatives based inside Iran, the Post reported Monday, citing US and Middle Eastern security officials. The officials reportedly said that the assassination attempts stopped in early spring, when Iran began to …More

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is visiting Azerbaijan for an official visit. Lieberman, who arrived Sunday evening in Iran's neighbor to the north, is scheduled to meet with the country's president and other high-ranking officials, according to reports. Lieberman's visit comes a month after the American magazine Foreign Policy reported that Israel was granted access to four former Soviet airbases in the Caucasus nation, raising the fears of US officials that it is readying an attack on Iran. …More

Shaul Mofaz thinks Israel should agree to Palestinian land demands, meaning controversy for one of the settlements he helped found. [Israel Hayom] Meanwhile, an Israeli politician says he was misquoted in a US magazine, resulting in his demand for a retraction. [Jerusalem Post] A popular Israeli DJ has taken Azerbaijan by storm, [Ynet] while Israeli fencers look to family for choosing a trainer. [Haaretz] An op-ed proposes that the modern day art world has a campaign to romanticize terrorists. [Ynet] And a …More

Azerbaijan officials denied a claim in an American magazine that Israel was granted access to airbases in Azerbaijan. Foreign Policy Magazine reported Wednesday that Israel was granted access to the airbases in the Caucasus nation, raising the fears of US officials that it is readying an attack on Iran. Azerbaijan is located on Iran's northern border. "This information is absurd and groundless," Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry spokesman Teymur Abdullayev told the French news agency AFP. An Azerbaijan presidential …More

Azerbaijan has foiled a terrorist plot against its Israeli embassy, the National Security Ministry announced today. Twenty-two Azeri citizens were arrested for cooperating with the Sepah, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, on the attempted attack. "On orders of the Sepah, they were to commit terrorist acts against the US, Israeli and other Western states' embassies and the embassies' employees," the ministry said. The announcement of the arrests came just a month after Azerbaijan foiled an Iranian plot to kill …More

Israel will sell $1.6 billion in drones and anti-aircraft and missile defense systems to Azerbaijan, Israeli defense officials confirmed to the Associated Press last week. Though the move enables Azerbaijan to use the sophisticated defense technology against Iran as tensions rise in the region, the timing is likely coincidental. Danny Yatom, a former head of Mossad, told the Associated Press that it’s tempting to associate the deal with Israel’s potential attack of Iran over nuclear development. But …More

Conflicting reports have emerged concerning an alleged Iranian plot against Jewish targets in Azerbaijan. Law enforcement foiled an alleged assassination on Israeli Ambassador Michael Lotem this weekend, according to local reports published Tuesday. The suspects reportedly used the $150,000 given to them by Iran to purchase weapons and explosives. The plotters claimed to be avenging the recent deaths of Iranian scientists in mysterious explosions at suspected nuclear facilities. Israel has neither confirmed nor …More

A Russian journalist’s comments comparing the treatment of Armenians in Azerbaijan to the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust has drawn the ire of both the Russian and Jewish communities of Azerbaijan. According to a letter sent by the two communities to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Director General of the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company Oleg Dobrodeev, TV presenter Valdmir Solovyov called Azerbaijanis “scum” who believed they should “open their dirty …More

The Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan called on Baku to stand beside Ankara in its diplomatic struggle against Israel and "reconsider" its relations with the Jewish State, a Persian-language US-based website reported on Sunday. According to the report, Ambassador Hulusi Kilic said that Israel should take into account "possible problems" with the oil pipeline that crosses from Azerbaijan to Turkey, and also supplies oil to Israel. He did not go into further details. The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline …More