Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel, Gideon Sa'ar, has given an exclusive interview with APA. He spoke about the purpose of his visit to Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan-Israel relations, developments in the Middle East, including Gaza.
The purpose of my visit is to further strengthen our relations
- Mr. Minister, I am pleased to welcome you to Baku. I would like to begin the interview by asking about the purpose of your visit to Azerbaijan. What is the main goal of your trip, and in which specific areas do you think Israel should strengthen cooperation with Azerbaijan?
- The purpose of the visit is to further strengthen relations. I can say that today the relationship between Azerbaijan and Israel is already very strong, and we are witnessing very positive dynamics in cooperation across a range of fields, from trade, tourism and energy to defense. These relations have been tested when both countries faced difficulties. Both Azerbaijan and we have faced wars, and overall I can say that this is a reliable strategic alliance for both countries. This alliance has been tested not only in easy times, but precisely in difficult times as well.
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Thus, the purpose of this visit is to strengthen relations. We held discussions on a very broad range of topics, including cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence. I have come here with more than 40 representatives of major businesses — an economic delegation representing the economic institutions of our government. In addition, the delegation includes representatives of companies working in infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, cybersecurity and security; the delegation covers almost every field. As far as I know, today has also been very productive in terms of meetings with the business sector here.
And of course, such visits are always an opportunity to discuss challenges, bilateral relations, and issues on the international arena. I discussed this with the President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and also met with the Minister of Economy, and I was in parliament just a short while ago. So, even though it is a brief one-day visit, I believe the trip has been very intensive, highly productive, and I am quite satisfied with it.
We have no interest in worsening relations with Türkiye any further than they already are.
- Israel has recently been holding diplomatic talks to normalize relations with Syria and Türkiye. Azerbaijan has put forward a mediation initiative in this direction. In your view, at what stage is the normalization process at the moment, and how do you assess Azerbaijan’s role in this matter?
-First of all, the situation with Syria is different, because historically it has been a state that has been hostile to us.
As for Türkiye, in the past we had very good relations, but over recent decades we have seen these relations deteriorate. So, it is not that there is a need for normalization with Türkiye, because our relations with Türkiye exist. For decades, we have had diplomatic relations with Türkiye. But unfortunately, relations have deteriorated recently, it was their choice. Everyone can speculate about the reasons for this, but I will not speculate about the reasons in this interview, it is just a fact. We have no interest in making relations with Türkiye worse than they already are.
About a month ago, a meeting of high-level officials from both sides was held to create a mechanism that would be useful in such situations. Regarding Azerbaijan, in the past, my colleague, the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, conveyed some messages from us to them, but recently this has disappeared. I hope that we will reach a different, better future in our relations with Türkiye, but this depends entirely on the Turkish side.
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As for Syria, I can say that I do not see normalization in the near future. The issues that we are facing today, the issues that we are currently negotiating, I can say, are mainly related to agreeing on the current status quo in southern Syria from a security perspective. This is important for us. I think it is important for them as well, but I can say that this is a limited agreement. It is not a peace or normalization treaty. Perhaps in the future we can achieve more than this, and I hope that in the future we will do so by preventing tensions.
Israel has made major concessions before, including territorial concessions
- Mr. Minister, the situation in the Middle East is complex and multifaceted. There are calls and support from the international community for a two-state solution. Is Israel ready to make concessions in this direction?
- Israel has made major concessions before, including territorial concessions. In the 1990s, within the context of the Oslo Accords, Israel created the Palestinian Authority and gave it territory. Ten years later, in 2005, Israel completely withdrew from the Gaza Strip, eliminating all settlements and its military presence there. We have made great strides. You have to understand that the Palestinians have not conquered a single centimeter of these territories. All the territories were given by Israel, either bilaterally or unilaterally.
But the problem is that our experience, as you have also witnessed, has shown the people of Israel that we did not move closer to peace — on the contrary, our security situation deteriorated. Therefore, today people are more cautious about offering further concessions to the Palestinians, because it will not bring peace. What is needed today is a profound change in Palestinian society — what is needed is for Palestinian society to dissociate itself from three negative approaches. The first is payments to terrorists and their families, which the Palestinian Authority still makes. In this way, they encourage terrorists and preserve a mentality of terror within Palestinian society. I emphasize that I am not talking about Hamas now — I am talking about the Palestinian Authority. The second is to bring about a major change in incitement. It is necessary to stop incitement against Israel in curricula, in the education system, and in Palestinian media, because this already poisons the minds of the new generation. Peace is not just a piece of paper. Peace exists between people. If people hate you, you cannot build peace. That is the second important issue. The third is to stop the illegal war against the State of Israel — both in international forums and in so-called "international" courts. If they do these three things, I think the people of Israel will see that we have a reliable partner in the peace process. At present, there is no such feeling, and therefore there is no basis for offering further concessions. Because when someone openly says, “I want to destroy you,” you do not feed the crocodile that wants to eat you.
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The Iranian government was killing thousands of its own people—what does that have to do with Israel or the United States?
— I would like to ask about the most recent events in Iran. The Iranian authorities accuse Israel of being behind these protests and claim that your country is supplying weapons to the protesters. What can you say about this? What are Israel and the United States currently aiming for in Iran from a strategic point of view?
— You know, this claim is ridiculous. Iran is about 1,500 kilometers away from Israel. Millions of people took to the streets. The Iranian government was killing thousands of its own citizens. What does that have to do with Israel or the United States? They failed to meet the needs of their people.
They are brutally suppressing the people’s aspirations for freedom and prosperity and blaming others for it. This is a very typical tactic of dictatorships. And this is a brutal dictatorship.
So, to speak openly, from our perspective, we had excellent relations with Iran before the Islamic Revolution and up until the late 1970s. We cooperated with them and had very good relations. We also have good relations with the Iranian people. We are not enemies or rivals of the Iranian people. We support the Iranian people’s desire for peace. Our problem is only with the regime.
Why? First, because they not only openly and officially say “we want to destroy Israel,” but they are also taking steps to achieve this.
They finance all the terrorist organizations around us, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. Thus, they are parties that are waging an ongoing war against Israel from afar.
Second, they want to acquire nuclear weapons, which would create a threat for the entire region. This would not endanger only Israel, because if this brutal regime were to obtain a nuclear umbrella, one can imagine what they could do to intimidate neighboring countries. Therefore, the most extremist regime must be prevented from possessing the most dangerous weapon — nuclear weapons.
Third, they have worked and continue to work on developing a large ballistic missile program.
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How do we know this program is directed against Israel? Because they have already used it against Israel. During this war, in 2024 and 2025, they used it three times. They did this even before we targeted their nuclear facilities and missile program. In April and October 2024, they launched attacks.
And if we talk about Israel, a small country, their desire to acquire an incredible number of precise missiles threatens the Israeli state, and they do not hide this intent.
So, from our perspective, if they had not done these three things — if they had stopped supporting terrorism, refrained from advancing nuclear weapons, and not developed ballistic missiles — we would have no problem with them.
But the problem is that they have never agreed to do any of this. Even in June 2025, before the war broke out, when they were in contact with the United States, they were just playing games. They did not actually make any serious commitments.
Therefore, it is very important for us to keep this dangerous regime away from dangerous weapons and to take steps that will reduce its ability to support terrorist states and terrorist groups that are at war with Israel.
— Mr. Minister, thank you for the interview.
— I also thank you. Thank you very much.
