Michael Rubin unjustly slights Azerbaijan in “Israel Shouldn’t Fall for the Azeri Trojan Horse” (Letters, March 24). Take his treatment of the country’s 2021 gas-swap deal with Iran. Baku is the covert partner of Tehran, Mr. Rubin says. But Azerbaijan coordinated that deal with the Biden administration to help ease Europe’s energy crisis. The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control gave the deal a thumb’s up. There’s no hidden agenda.
Mr. Rubin also argues that Azerbaijan endangers Israel. Do Israeli views count? Last month I met in Jerusalem with senior officials from both sides of the country’s cavernous political divide. They couldn’t agree on whether the sun was shining but unanimously described Azerbaijan as one of Israel’s top allies. Baku, they confided, delivered crucial assistance during Israel’s war against Hamas. The Azerbaijani Jewish community is safer and better integrated into the society than Jews in most European countries.