Azerbaijan says it bought $5 bn-worth weapons from Israel

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan has purchased nearly $5 billion-worth of defense equipment from Israel, President Ilham Aliyev said on Tuesday, December 13 during a visit to Baku by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Haaretz reports.

Aliyev said the defense industry cooperation between the countries lasted for several years and was still flourishing.

“So far the contracts between Azerbaijani and Israeli companies concerning the purchase of defense equipment have been close to $5 billion,” Aliyev said. “More precisely, $4.85 billion. The biggest part of these contracts has already been executed and we still continue working on that. And we are very satisfied with this level of cooperation.”

According to foreign reports, Israel sells radar systems and drones to Azerbaijan, and collects intelligence against Iran. Moshe Ya’alon, as a defense minister, visited Azerbaijan in 2014 for a weapons fair in which Israeli companies participated. According to other reports, an Israeli self-destructing killer drone – Israel Aerospace Industries’ Harop – was seen operating in Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian rebel enclave inside Azerbaijan.

It has also been reported that Azerbaijani soldiers are armed with Israeli Tavor rifles, having been seen carrying the blue and white weapon.

Israel is the world's most militarized country, the Global Militarization Index said, at the same time putting Azerbaijan among the top ten globally.