The Central Asian nation of 35 million is set to celebrate its 30th anniversary of official diplomatic relations with Israel next year, and has a Jewish community that some say has existed since the time of King David.

As part of the government’s push towards Western-style democracy and in view of its struggles against water scarcity, Uzbekistan wishes to strengthen its ties with the Jewish state.

It’s an initiative that was promoted by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who earlier this week got a second term.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev votes at a polling station during a presidential election in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, October 24, 2021. (Uzbek Presidential Press Service / Document via REUTERS)

WHEN IT comes to Israel, there is “open-hearted” diplomacy, explained former Uzbek foreign minister Sodiq Safoyev, who is now the Senate’s first vice-president.

He explained that he feels a strong personal and diplomatic bond with Israel, a country he admires but has never visited.

“We have one of the oldest Jewish communities dating back over 2,000 years,” and which has made a significant contribution “to the development of this region,” Safoyev said.

“I cannot imagine the Uzbek culture without the contribution of the Jewish community in Uzbekistan,” he explained.

Uzbekistan’s Jewish community is believed to date back at least to the time of the Babylonian exile, if not earlier.

Historically, Jews were concentrated in Bukhara and Samarkand, considered one of the burial sites of the bones of the biblical prophet Daniel.

A former Soviet bloc country, modern-day Uzbekistan also hosted Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe who fled the Nazis during World War II.

Before the fall of the Soviet Union, the Jewish community was estimated at 250,000, but most of its members have since immigrated to Israel or the United States, leaving only 10,000 Jews in the country, mostly in Tashkent.

Safoyev said these Jews played an important role in helping to cement the ties between Uzbekistan and Israel.

Its openness to the Jewish state is part of the country’s branding as a global center of enlightened and liberal Islam, at a time when Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise elsewhere.

“Uzbekistan is the center of Islamic civilization. All the major achievements of Islamic thought were created here, ”Safoyev said.

To cement the country’s historic place in Muslim history, the government is building what will be the largest Islamic research center.

When the new Center for Islamic Civilization is completed, the complex will encompass the historic Hast-Imam complex which includes a museum housing one of the oldest copies of the Quran, written on deerskin and possibly dating back to the 7th century.

When Reuven Rivlin was President of Israel, he sent a Hebrew translation of the Quran written by his father to Uzbekistan, which is on display in this museum just one piece from the ancient Quran.

Safoyev said the coexistence between Jews and Muslims is important for Uzbekistan.

“Islam is inclined to peace, to coexistence and to respect for other religions,” he said.

In Uzbekistan, a landlocked country where balancing competing geopolitical interests is a diplomatic necessity, the ability of its diplomats to maintain ties with a wide range of countries is part of its national philosophy.

Long before last year’s Abraham Accords allowed for the normalization of relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, a number of Muslim countries, such as Uzbekistan, already had a history of formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

As part of its commitment to the Jewish state, the government brought a group of Israeli journalists to Uzbekistan last weekend at its own expense so they could learn more about the country.

HISTORY IS NOT the only problem. The economy also plays an important role in Uzbekistan’s interest in Israel.

“We want to bring more Jewish and Israeli businesses to Uzbekistan, to expand the number of investment opportunities, especially drip irrigation,” Safoyev said.

Ambassador to Uzbekistan Zehavit Ben Hillel said that “Uzbekistan is a leading country in Central Asia, so it is important to continue good relations with this country”.

Technology has been an important tool in this business, she said.

The main crop of Uzbekistan was cotton, and there was an interest in replacing the old method of flooding fields with drip irrigation, like the one in which Israel excels.

Ikramov Adkham Ilkhamovich, who chairs the Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Israel’s water management is one of the best in the world and its water-saving technologies present a great interest in his country given its fight against drought.

“In 2016, we knew little about drip irrigation. But in the space of five years, we have covered 300,000 hectares with drip irrigation, ”he said, adding that the move had also increased productivity. This includes all cultures, Ilkhamovich added.

Next year, he said, Uzbekistan plans to cover 1.2 million hectares with drip irrigation.

Ilkhamovich said Israel had increased its agricultural yields eightfold with the advent of drip drip, and that his country wanted to follow suit.

“Now we are at the beginning of learning how to export fresh and dried fruits,” and “we are interested in Israel’s experience in this area,” he said.

Israel, Ilkhamovich said, can benefit from his country’s production of silk, leather and copper. It also produces plastics and uranium.

Trade between the two countries amounts to around $ 40-45 million, but this could be significantly expanded not only through high-tech agriculture, but also through tourism, education and medical initiatives.

“Israel has always been a very important country for us,” said Dilorom Fayzieva, who chairs the Uzbek legislature’s committee on international affairs. The Knesset and parliament are also looking to improve their relations, she said.

Earlier this year, former Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin (Likud) held the first formal meeting of anyone in office with Uzbekistan Senate Speaker Tanzila Norbaeva when the two spoke on Zoom.

To better understand the balance that Uzbekistan maintains in its foreign relations, said Safoyev, one has to consider the fact that the country is landlocked and must have good relations with all its neighbors, especially when it comes to transport.

“As Napoleon said, ‘If you want to understand a country’s foreign policy, you should study its geography,” Safoyev said.

Both the Afghan corridor and the one that crosses Turkmenistan and Iran offer it the best route to the sea.

Uzbekistan has good relations with Tehran, he said.

“Iran is an important regional power” and through its management “our main trade routes to Europe and the Middle East”, he added.

Likewise, he said, his country has been in conversation with the Taliban since its takeover of Afghanistan over the summer, although it has not established formal ties with its country. government.

“The whole world is watching closely what is going on in Afghanistan,” Safoyev said.

There is no immediate plan to normalize relations, but sustained dialogue is important, he added.

Safoyev said he believed that “the whole world community appreciates the fact that Uzbekistan is a channel for systematic dialogue with the current rulers of Afghanistan,” he said.

This communications corridor allows Uzbekistan to help prevent a humanitarian crisis in that country, Safoyev said, adding that he opposes sanctions against the Taliban that would harm the Afghan people.

“We shouldn’t be punishing people. They would be the ones who would suffer from any kind of blockade or asset freeze, ”Safoyev said.

It is an important step in preventing a wave of refugees from Afghanistan and in preventing the country from becoming a haven for terrorists as it was in the past before the arrival of US forces in the country.

“We must not repeat the mistakes of the former Soviet Union, which withdrew from Afghanistan and forgot that country.

“The international community must remain engaged in the country to prevent” it from becoming bases of al-Qaeda and ISIS, he said.

“The Taliban are reality. It is a factor in political life in Afghanistan, and we must take advantage of it, ”Safoyev said. The aim should be to reform the Taliban to include minorities and women, he said, adding that he must also prevent terrorism. It is particularly important that infrastructure projects in this country continue.

Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said Safoyev, he believes that his country has an important role to play in maintaining dialogue with the two sides.

“Dialogue is always better than conflict” and goes a long way in “remedying” what he called the lack of confidence in modern diplomacy, Safoyev said, adding that this idea was at the heart of his country’s diplomacy. .

“Every human being deserves to have a peaceful life, to have prosperity and to live together in this world,” Safoyev said.

No one leaves this planet for another.

“All of our neighbors are from God and we must appreciate them,” he added. •