Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s office issued a statement on Motzei Shabbos that his scheduled trip to COP29, the climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, was canceled due to “security reasons.”

Herzog was scheduled to fly to Baku on Israel’s Wings of Zion plane on Tuesday for a visit of only several hours.

However, Ynet reported on Sunday that a report on an Azeri news site that is considered the government’s mouthpiece claims that the real reason for Herzog’s cancellation is Turkey’s refusal to allow Wings of Zion to fly in its airspace en route to the meeting. Azeri officials were not pleased by Israel’s statement blaming Herzog’s canceled trip on “security reasons” and tried to have it changed via diplomatic channels.

Azeri officials confirmed the veracity of the report to Ynet.

A senior Azeri Foreign Affairs official spoke to Caliber News about the incident saying, “Unfortunately, intensive negotiations through diplomatic channels that lasted for several days did not yield results. Azerbaijan has created appropriate conditions for the participation of all parties in the climate conference, but the situation surrounding the Israeli president’s visit arose for reasons beyond our country’s control.”

He added that Azerbaijan often hosts major regional and global events and guarantees a high level of security.

“It is not an exaggeration to say that Baku is one of the safest cities in the world,” he claimed. “This is confirmed by the fact that a large number of Israeli officials have come to Azerbaijan, including President Herzog himself, who visited Baku on May 30 of this year. Prime Minister Netanyahu also came to Azerbaijan for a one-day visit in 2016.”

“Unprecedented security measures are also being taken in preparation for the conference in connection with the arrival of tens of thousands of guests and about 100 world leaders and heads of high-ranking delegations to the country.”

Israeli ministers who attended the conference did so on commercial flights through Georgia and it is unclear why Herzog did not take advantage of that option.

It should be noted that as Israel is subject to international boycotts and Israelis and Jews fear walking the streets of Europe, it seems that no one is concerned about the Taliban’s violation of human rights in Afghanistan. An official Taliban delegation attended the climate conference but no protests were held.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)