Azerbaijan cancels planned Conference for European Rabbis due to Iranian threats

The government of Azerbaijan has reportedly cancelled the Conference for European Rabbis for Nov. 3-6 of this year due to threats from the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“The Conference of European Rabbis regrets to announce that its convention in Baku, scheduled for next week, has been postponed due to circumstances beyond our control,” the conference said in an official statement without elaborating. 

“We wish to thank the government of Azerbaijan for its continued support and apologize for any inconvenience caused,” the conference organizer added.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry refrained from officially commenting on the issue. However, according to media reports, Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad convinced the government in Baku to cancel the conference due to threats from the Iranian regime. 

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt who heads the Conference, told The Jerusalem Post that the event will likely still take place this year, potentially in the Jewish state. 

“We are going to have this convention one way or another,” Goldschmidt said. 

Israel’s Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli is reportedly facilitating the relocation of the conference to Israel. 

The Muslim-majority country Azerbaijan has a history of close relations with the Jewish people and solid ties with the State of Israel. Jewish organizations praised Azerbaijan in February for its tolerance towards Jews. 

The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), emphasized that Azerbaijan’s school system could serve as a role model for other Muslim-majority societies. 

"The textbooks demonstrate a clear rejection of the extreme Islamist values promoted by their near-neighbor Iran," IMPACT–se CEO Marcus Sheff stated. "Instead, they promote tolerance, diversity, and a heartfelt respect for Jews and Israel, which serves as an important model for many other majority-Muslim states."

The Islamist regime in Tehran has a history of threats against Azerbaijan due to its close ties with Israel and the Jewish people. In April, Azerbaijani authorities foiled an Iranian terrorist plot to kill the local Rabbi Shenor Segal in the Azeri capital Baku as part of Tehran’s wider attacks against Jews worldwide.

Iran’s elite Quds force reportedly recruited a Georgian drug trafficker and was prepared to pay $200,000 for the elimination of the rabbi. Despite the threats from Iran, Shenor stressed that he felt safe living as a religiously observant Jew in Azerbaijan. 

“We live here peacefully. I walk on the streets here, and there is no fear,” the rabbi said. 

Iranian officials reportedly believe that Azerbaijan permitted the Israeli Air Force to use its airspace during the Operation Rising Lion offensive against Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile assets in June. 

While maintaining close ties with Israel, Azerbaijan has at the same time tried to stabilize its diplomatic relations with its powerful neighbor Iran. During an official state visit to Armenia in August, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian articulated opposition to the American-brokered peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. 

In contrast, Rabbi Zamir Isayev, the Sephardi chief rabbi in Azerbaijan, welcomed the peace agreement, arguing it “sends a clear message of peace and unity and strengthens the region’s ability to resist Iranian influence. It is no surprise that Iran fears this deal.”