The Israeli Foreign Ministry has recently been increasing Israeli diplomatic activity with countries surrounding Iran. Thus, during the past few weeks, Israel was unusually visited by two delegations from five countries from Central Asia, which are adjacent to Iran, and most of whose inhabitants are Muslims. Israel already has warm relations with Azerbaijan which announced they are exploring opening an embassy in Jerusalem in the near future. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan were all represented in the delegations.
The main delegation is still in Israel and is expected to visit the Temple Mount.
The first delegation visited Israel about two weeks ago and included 30 influencers under the age of 30, who are considered future leaders in their countries. The second and main delegation arrived in Israel this week in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the regional office of the UNODC organization in Central Asia (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime).
2/3 The main focus of the delegation is border protection and the fight against drugs and crime, as part of the cooperation with the @UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime).
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) December 20, 2022
The second group is a professional border protection delegation made of 25 senior officials from five Central Asian countries, who wish to learn from Israeli experience and methods; and above all to receive the technology Israel has developed for this purpose.
In Israel, great importance is attached to strengthening the Israeli presence in the areas bordering Iran, with the ultimate goal of surrounding Iran by allies of Israel. Officials say there is a strategy that includes many diplomatic missions around Iran in order to use every possible lever from all angles that can influence the Ayatollah regime. Thankfully for the Israelis, the “Stans” are more than happy to cooperate.
Yuval Fox, head of the Eurasia division at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said in regards to the countries in the Persian neighborhood that "their sense of threat stems a lot from Afghanistan after the American withdrawal, but not only. It also concerns drugs, terrorism, and fundamentalist Islam, and there is an abundance of interests linked with Israel. Until now, Israel has had cooperation In Central Asia mainly on the issues of women's empowerment or clean water sourcing - and usually not multilateral.
Israel ties warming with Central Asian countries https://t.co/3OsWsYualz pic.twitter.com/zqxmlRbKBh
— Jerusalem Post Opinion (@JPostOpinion) October 14, 2018
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that strengthening the cooperation between the professional bodies in Israel and the countries of Central Asia is important and vital to the continuation of the fight against threats and challenges that threaten stability, as well as to the strengthening of the good relations between Israel and each of the countries participating. During the week, ways and possibilities for deepening and continuing joint work will be examined. Israel hopes after the members of the delegation return to their countries and presents their impressions, a process of deepening cooperation through round tables and joint seminars will begin.
