JTA — Two former Soviet republics that have been sworn enemies ever since the breakup of the USSR are suddenly on the verge of making peace.

Since even before their independence in 1991, predominantly Christian, landlocked Armenia and mostly Muslim, oil-rich Azerbaijan have fought many wars over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region and accused each other of human rights abuses, ethnic cleansing — even genocide.

But now, their leaders say they have decided to bury the hatchet — and Jews in both countries could benefit.

On August 8, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met at the White House with US President Donald Trump. Together, the three men signed documents aimed at ending the hostilities that had defined Armenian-Azerbaijani relations for more than 35 years.

“We are very happy about this agreement,” said Shneor Segal, chief rabbi of the Ashkenazi community of Azerbaijan and head of the Chabad movement there. “As Jews, we always pray for peace. Friendship between neighbors can only bring good things, so any move toward peace and co-existence is positive.”

Alexandra Livergant, a Russian Jew who’s been living in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, since early 2022, said the Armenians treat her kindly — but that attitudes toward individual Jews they meet and toward Israel as a state are two distinct things.

“Overall, the situation may improve, because a peace agreement means there will be no war —  which also means that Israel will stop selling weapons to Azerbaijan,” said Livergant, a journalist who hosts public talks, interviews and podcasts. “This could ease a major source of tension.”

Azerbaijan has roughly three times the land area and population as Armenia, with roughly 10.2 million people inhabiting a country the size of Maine. Home to indigenous Jews since shortly after the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem, in 586 BCE, Azerbaijan also boasts the world’s first oil well. By the 1920s, it was producing more than half the planet’s petroleum.

Today, this republic bordering the Caspian Sea still relies on energy exports for most of its revenues, which have helped turn its capital city, Baku, into a mini-Dubai. About 96% of its inhabitants are Muslims, with no restrictions placed on the practice of other faiths.

That has allowed the tiny fraction of Azerbaijanis who identify as Jews to thrive — a rarity in the Islamic world.

“Azerbaijan’s Jewish community wrote a letter to our president congratulating him for this agreement. And of course, we would love to have peace with Armenia. But here in Azerbaijan, we are already living in peace and harmony,” said Rabbi Zamir Isayev, chairman of the Sephardic Community of Baku. He said Azerbaijan represented the rare “Muslim country where Israeli tourists can speak Hebrew, relax and feel at home.”

Estimates of how many Jews live in Azerbaijan vary wildly. Shneor and Isayev put the number at 25,000 or even 30,000 — with roughly 65% of that total being so-called “Mountain Jews” of Persian origin (whose ranks include

© The Times of Israel