In one of the cartoons circulating on the internet, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, is on all fours in front of girls in hijabs. Around his neck is a leash held by the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Author: Alexander Khmelnitsky
Netanyahu has no relation to school uniforms in Azerbaijan. But it is Israel that has become the main accused in the campaign that began after restrictions on wearing religious headgear in public schools.
On October 16, 2026, the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA) in Israel published study No. 239. Its authors believe that Russian, Iranian, and Turkish information sources are involved in spreading anti-Semitic messages.
These countries have different relations with Baku. But Russia deserves special attention, as it has faced a reduction in its influence in the South Caucasus in recent years.
First, there was a conflict over school uniforms.
On September 21, 2026, the Azerbaijani government changed the requirements for student clothing. The rules prohibit clothing elements that violate the established uniform or contradict the secular nature of public education. There is no direct mention of the hijab in the relevant decree.
On October 6, the authorities separately approved clothing requirements for teachers.
Starting October 12, reports began to emerge that schoolgirls and teachers in hijabs were not being allowed to attend classes. Protests began. The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported 37 detentions in Baku. Activists claimed that the number of detentions across the country was significantly higher.
Amnesty International demanded an end to the discrimination against schoolgirls and the release of peaceful protesters.
Parents’ claims have a real basis. The secular nature of the state does not in itself remove the issue of a child’s right to education.
But how did this internal conflict become associated with Jews?
Who made Israel the culprit of the ban
Social media began to claim that Azerbaijani authorities were banning hijabs under Israeli pressure. Aliyev is attributed with Jewish ancestry, depicted in a kippah, using characteristic anti-Semitic cartoon images.
There was also a message that Jewish schools were allegedly allowed to violate the general clothing requirements.
This claim was refuted by Rabbi Zamir Isayev, head of the Sephardic Jewish community in Baku. He confirmed that state rules also apply in Jewish schools.
Simultaneously, a fake document about an alleged ban on hijabs in medical institutions was circulated. The Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan had to officially refute it.
Neither Israel’s involvement in developing school requirements nor special privileges for Jewish schools have been confirmed.
Why this is a particularly sensitive story for Israel
On October 14, Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with Aliyev in Baku. The visit took place within the framework of the CICA summit — the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, an international organization uniting Asian states.
Azerbaijan is an important partner for Israel among Muslim countries. The countries cooperate in energy, defense, and security. A significant portion of the oil entering the Israeli market passes through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
There is also a geographical factor: Azerbaijan directly borders Iran.
In March 2026, Azerbaijani intelligence reported preventing sabotage allegedly prepared on the orders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Among the alleged targets were the Israeli embassy, an Ashkenazi synagogue, and a representative of the Mountain Jewish community. These accusations came from Baku.
Therefore, attempts to portray Aliyev’s relations with Israel as a betrayal of Islam affect the real interests of both countries.
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Turkey criticizes, Iran accuses
Turkey is considered Azerbaijan’s closest ally. However, Erdogan’s advisor Oktay Saral publicly criticized the hijab restrictions. Some deputies of the ruling Turkish AKP party joined him.
On October 13, the ruling party of Azerbaijan responded to Ankara. Baku reminded that the principle of ‘one nation — two states’ does not allow interference in the internal affairs of an ally.
Separately, the Azerbaijani side defended the country’s right to cooperate with Israel.
Iran’s conflict with Baku has a long history. Tehran has repeatedly expressed suspicions about Azerbaijan’s military-political ties with Israel. Therefore, the school scandal became another reason for anti-Israeli rhetoric.
But why do BESA researchers also mention Russia among the alleged sources of the anti-Semitic campaign?
Moscow and Baku: reconciliation after a serious crisis
On December 25, 2024, an Azerbaijan Airlines plane was damaged by Russian air defense and crashed near Aktau in Kazakhstan.
In the summer of 2025, relations worsened even more. After a police operation in Yekaterinburg, two representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora were killed. In Baku, employees of the Russian state publication Sputnik were detained.
On April 15, 2026, Russia and Azerbaijan announced the settlement of the consequences of the plane crash, including the issue of compensation.
In July, Aliyev stated that relations with Moscow were fully normalized. Contacts between the presidents continued.
This circumstance is important. Today, there are no grounds to portray Russia and Azerbaijan as states in open confrontation.
However, the normalization of bilateral relations does not eliminate competition for influence in the region.
What Russia is losing in the South Caucasus
After the collapse of the USSR, Moscow remained one of the key mediators between Armenia and Azerbaijan for a long time. Russian peacekeepers were in Karabakh after the 2020 war, but in 2024 they completed their withdrawal.
In August 2025, Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, with the mediation of US President Donald Trump, agreed on the framework for a peaceful settlement.
One of the results was the TRIPP initiative — ‘Trump’s Route for International Peace and Prosperity.’ It plans a transport connection between the main territory of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan through Armenia with American participation in infrastructure development.
For the Israeli reader, it is important to understand the geography here. Nakhchivan is an autonomous republic separated from the main territory of Azerbaijan, bordering Turkey, Iran, and Armenia. The new route can change regional cargo flows and the distribution of political influence.
For Ukraine, this process is also of interest. Russia, continuing the war in Ukraine, faces neighboring states developing international relations and transport projects without Moscow’s obligatory mediation.
Why weakening Aliyev may serve Russian interests
Aliyev has the opportunity to negotiate simultaneously with Turkey, Israel, the US, and Russia. Such foreign policy leaves Baku room for independent decisions.
An internal religious conflict can narrow this space.
If relations with Israel begin to provoke protests within predominantly Muslim Azerbaijan, the president has to spend political efforts defending the foreign policy course.
If disagreements with Turkey arise simultaneously, the situation becomes more complicated.
For Moscow, interested in maintaining its role in the South Caucasus, such difficulties for Baku are potentially beneficial. Weakening an independent regional player can expand the possibilities of Russian diplomatic influence.
This is the interest that BESA authors suggest.
But there is a fundamental boundary between a political motive and established participation in an information operation.
The published study does not contain technical data that would allow tracing the spread of anti-Semitic cartoons to Russian state structures. No established campaign coordinators or evidence of a joint operation by Moscow, Ankara, and Tehran are presented.
Therefore, it is premature to claim that the campaign was organized by the Kremlin.
However, Russian interest in weakening an independent Azerbaijan is quite understandable against the backdrop of recent changes. Baku is building relations with Washington, maintaining cooperation with Israel, and discussing the region’s transport future with Armenia without Moscow’s previous exclusive role.
Anti-Semitic images of Aliyev have already become part of this political dispute. Who spreads and coordinates them remains to be established.
And the question of Russian interest deserves attention precisely because it is not about school hijabs, but about influencing a country that increasingly makes international decisions independently.