Boaz Toporovsky, a sitting part of the Jewish Knesset and the head of the Taiwan-Israel Friendship Group, led an Israeli political group that traveled to Taiwan last week.
Watchers of Israel saw the visit as another indication that its relations with China are improving in the midst of Hamas ‘ October 7 terrorist attack.
In 1992, Israel established formal diplomatic ties with China, which also debuted a rapidly expanding economic partnership, without mentioning China’s support for the Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO ) as China’s economy expanded. By 2017, China had become Israel’s largest buying partner.
Israel and Taiwan also maintained great connections, including an illegal official known as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office. The Israelis remained encouraged in both Beijing and Taipei by staying out of their conflicts, much like the similar rope they walked centuries ago between Russia and Ukraine.
After the terrorist attack on October 7, when China mocked Israel by refusing to criticize Hamas, that all started to change. Within a week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was now criticizing Israel for “going beyond the reach of self-defense” and imposing “group abuse” on the Palestinians with its military actions in Gaza.
As the Gaza war raged on, China and Israel’s relationship deteriorated even more, and China demanded an “immediate peace” to shield Hamas from the effects of its behavior.
When China and Israel announced their “innovative complete relationship” in 2017, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described his government’s blossoming trade relationship as a “marriage made in heaven.” However, the marriage now seems to be in jeopardy.
Beijing may not help indulging its “inclination to employ far-flung conflicts as opportunities to destroy the United States and score points in the” International West,” according to the Washington Institute’s postulations in November.
China also appeared to think that Israel valued its billions of dollars in trade and investment so highly that it would treat them differently while the Chinese engaged in political maneuvers with ideology terrorist organizations, maintained their Middle Eastern friends, and acted as the king diplomats who may one day bring about the” two-state option” in practice. China sat back and forth acknowledging how horrific the Hamas horrors on October 7 had permanently altered the sport.
In January, the Council on Foreign Relations ( CFR ) noted that Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders in general seemed to like having China to use as a leverage when relations with some U.S. administrations started to deteriorate. Immediately following President Joe Biden’s decision to not allow him to travel to the White House due to his criminal changes, Netanyahu announced that he would be visiting dictator Xi Jinping in Beijing.
” Given China’s answer to the conflict in Gaza, Bibi’s people efforts to revive Israel’s partnership with China during times of conflict with the United States today appear small sighted”, the CFR observed.
Israel and China had economic ties for many years, but it turned the other method when China continued to oppose Israel at the UN. Israeli leaders hoped that China would eventually change its position as people-to-people relations tightened. This did not happen”, Galia Lavi, assistant director of Tel Aviv’s Diane and Guilford Glazer Israel- China Policy Center, told the South China Morning Post (SCMP ) in November.
I do n’t see how Israel can continue to have positive relations with China. Things will have to change, but we do n’t know how much change there will be”, Lavi added.
The SCMP viewed the Israeli camaraderie trip to Taiwan on Tuesday as a sign of Beijing’s relationship being completely cooled.
Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s incoming president, welcomed the Israeli delegation with open arms and expressed his desire to develop stronger global supply chains, meaning those that do n’t rely so heavily on China.
Toporovsky responded by calling Taiwan a” real friend” and convincing that Israel will always remember Taiwan’s support following the October 7 attack there. He even mentioned Iran’s April 14 assault on Israel, which was almost entirely neutralized by Israel’s higher- technical missile and drone threats.
” Israel and Taiwan share a lot of similarities as small but powerful governments in a tough environment. It is time that our friendship became also stronger, and that we collaborated in more and more grounds”, he said.
Mor Sobol, associate professor of international politics at Taipei’s Tamkang University, said the October 7 assault and its aftereffects made Israel know China “is not a friend, maybe not even a companion”, but a” risk” that might be countered by cooperating more enthusiastically with Taiwan.
