How Israel and Azerbaijan Built a $5B Alliance

Azerbaijan denies reports of Mossad agents on its soil, but the denial's brevity speaks volumes. This episode unpacks one of the most consequential yet underreported defense partnerships in the Middle East: Israel and Azerbaijan. Separated by 1,500 kilometers, a Jewish state and a Shia-majority post-Soviet republic have built a strategic alliance worth billions. We trace the relationship from the early 1990s through the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, where Israeli-made Harop drones systematically dismantled Armenian air defenses. We explore the energy pipeline that supplies 40% of Israel's crude oil, the Qabala radar station providing Iranian missile surveillance, and the diplomatic tightrope Azerbaijan walks with 15-20 million ethnic Azerbaijanis living across the border in Iran. This is the story of how two unlikely partners trade oil for security — and what happens when that trade draws fire.