For China-Israel ties, the ‘honeymoon is certainly over’, policy expert says

Gaza war, US-China rivalry, and security concerns test relations, but ‘we can still do business’, says think tank director Assaf Orion

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left), shown here with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2017, once called his country’s ties with Beijing a “marriage made in heaven”. Photo: AP

Published: 12:00pm, 6 Jun 2024Updated: 3:52pm, 6 Jun 2024

Corrected [3:50pm, 6 Jun, 2024]

[3:50pm, 6 Jun, 2024]
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the 2022 two-way trade figure for China and Israel. The story has been updated to reflect the correct number.

While ties between Israel and China have blossomed over the past two decades, they will face new challenges after the war in Gaza, including deteriorating public perceptions, a deepening US-China rivalry and heightened national security concerns, according to an Israeli think tank expert.

“The purpose for Israel remains to have friendly and fruitful relations with China,” said Assaf Orion, director of the Diane and Guilford Glazer Israel-China Policy Centre at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies (INSS).

“At the same time, these relations are managed under considerations of national security, like China does itself,” he said, adding that Israel’s national security included “taking into account the US’ concerns”.

“Hopefully we can navigate the multilayer aspects here of how China has changed, how Israel has changed, how the Middle East is changing, how the world system is changing – and I think that’s the riddle to be solved,” said Orion, who formerly served as head of strategic planning with the general staff of the Israel Defence Forces.

He said economic cooperation would remain a priority between the two countries, but the “honeymoon is certainly over”.

However, he added, “the end of a honeymoon doesn’t mean divorce”.

“We can still do business, but the enthusiasm is gone, and Israel is very sensitive these days. We are reading reports of somewhat rising antisemitism on Chinese social media.”

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