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Azerbaijan: Israel's Closest Muslim Ally
(Bloomberg) Zulfugar Agayev - What started as a marriage of convenience has netted Israel its closest Muslim ally. The majority Shiite nation of Azerbaijan provides about 40% of Israel's oil. Israel reciprocates by selling sophisticated arms including missile systems and drones. President Ilham Aliyev, whose family has run the country for four decades, has forged close ties with Israel in the face of criticism from neighboring Iran. The two countries share a 756-km. border, and almost a quarter of Iran's 75 million people are ethnic Azeris.