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Armed Suspect Detained Near Israel Embassy In Azerbaijan

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

JERUSALEM/BAKU/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Azerbaijani security forces arrested a man armed with a gun who planned to attack the Israeli Embassy in the capital Baku, early Friday, officials say.

Security services in Azerbaijan said they detained the man near the embassy building, and he was planning to harm the embassy employees.

This is the second security situation involving an Israeli embassy abroad this week, The Jerusalem Post newspaper commented.

It recalled that a car crashed into a barricade near the entrance of the Israeli embassy in Tokyo on Thursday, and a man in his 50s was detained on the spot.

The attempted attack also comes amid broader concerns about antisemitism in the former Soviet Union.

Azerbaijan’s neighbor Armenia saw several attacks, including in the capital, Yerevan, where the sole synagogue was reportedly set alight on Wednesday. It was the second antisemitic attack targeting the city’s Jewish community since early October.

Wednesday’s violence targeting the synagogue was said to have been done “in solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movements against Zionism.”

SUPPORTING AZERBAIJAN

The militants blame Israel for supporting Azerbaijan, which has been accused of war crimes against Armenians in the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

However, the Israel war against Hamas added to anger among protesters in the region.

And in Russia’s Muslim-majority Dagestan region, Jewish families live in fear after hundreds of anti-Israel rioters stormed the airport in the regional capital, Makhachkala, in search of Jewish passengers on a flight from Israel.

Videos shared on social media showed many in the mainly Muslim mob rampaging through the airport terminal chanting antisemitic slogans such as “death to Jews and “Where the Jews are?” or “Allahu Akbar” – “Allah is Greatest.”

Attackers were also seen carrying Palestinian flags or handwritten banners saying, “Child killers are not welcome in Dagestan“ and “We’re against Jewish refugees.”

A crowd then ran onto the runway and surrounded the aircraft, with some demanding to see passports, presumably to check who was Jewish.

The rabbi of the Dagestani city of Derbent, Ovadia Isakov, told local media that “the future of the estimated 300-400 Jewish families in Dagestan was in doubt.”

Jews have had a presence in the region since pre-Islamic times, according to historians. Still, the rabbi suggested that the airport riots and other attacks have made their presence impossible. The latest reported attacks added to anxiety among Jews in the former Soviet Union and beyond.