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“One of the explanations Israel has tried to keep away from a two-front warfare, going in opposition to Hezbollah and Hamas on the similar time, is as a result of it could possibly’t afford to have each Tamar and Leviathan shut down on the similar time,” he stated. “It doesn’t have a substitute for the gasoline. But when you hit these fields, you’re hurting your pals, not simply your enemies — so this cooperation can also be one thing of a supply of deterrence.”
Oil to play for
Access to crude oil, gasoline and diesel has lengthy been a serious headache for Israeli policymakers, and Arab-led embargoes following regional wars in 1967 and 1973 sparked crippling power crises. In response, Israeli safety providers started a secret program of buying and selling weapons for oil from African dictatorships.
While Israel’s precise oil import statistics are a nationwide secret, Azerbaijan has now emerged as its main accomplice, having bought Israel $300 million value of crude this previous January alone, whereas receiving enormous volumes of weaponry to make use of in its battle with neighboring Armenia.
“Israel valued Azerbaijan as an important ally throughout the Muslim-majority world, providing not solely strategic depth but additionally important power safety,” stated Ayaz Rzayev, a analysis fellow at Baku’s Topchubashov Center. “For Azerbaijan, the connection with Israel offered entry to cutting-edge army know-how, serving to keep a big technological edge within the area.”
However, even that relationship is turning into extra unsure because the warfare in Gaza escalates, Rzayev stated, on condition that “Azerbaijan additionally locations important significance on its solidarity with Muslim states.” Turkey, Azerbaijan’s closest ally, has change into a number one champion of the Palestinian trigger because the battle exploded, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan imposing an unprecedented commerce embargo on Israel.
“The massive query is what do the Turks do,” stated Freilich, the previous nationwide safety official. “Most of Israel’s oil comes by way of pipelines to Turkey, and in the event that they wished they may lower off the spigot.”
