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Dewey Sim

Israel wants to “continue talking” to China despite its repeated condemnations of the recent attacks on Iran, its ambassador to Beijing has said.
Eli Belotserkovsky did not rule out the possibility of China acting as a mediator but in an interview with the SCMP on Wednesday he said the country’s biggest concern was its military operation.
Asked about Beijing’s position, Belotserkovsky said Israel’s relations with China were “very important”, and that the two sides had open channels of communication.
“We will continue talking to China as [part of] an ongoing process,” he said.


Belotserkovsky did not explicitly say that Beijing had raised with Israel the possibility of acting as a mediator or whether it would consider the proposal.
“At this stage, we are concentrating on the military campaign. This is our main concern at the moment, and we need to see how things will develop,” he said.
In the past week, top Chinese officials have criticised the attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities and military targets, which prompted Iran to strike back at targets in Israel.
A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 639 people, including 263 civilians, had been killed in Iran and more than 1,300 wounded. Israel has confirmed that at least 24 people on its side were killed and hundreds more injured.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that the attacks had escalated tensions in the Middle East and China opposed actions that infringed upon the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of other countries.
However, he added that Beijing was “ready to work with all parties to play a constructive role in restoring peace and stability in the Middle East”.
China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, had harsher words. During a call with Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday, Wang said Beijing “firmly opposes the reckless attacks targeting Iranian officials and causing civilian casualties”, and that it supported Tehran in safeguarding its national sovereignty and defending its legitimate rights and interests.
Wang also spoke to his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar the same day, telling him that “force cannot bring lasting peace” and urging him to resolve Israel’s differences with Iran through dialogue.
In a joint statement led by Egypt on Monday, 21 Arab and Muslim countries also condemned Israel’s airstrikes and called for regional de-escalation.
Belotserkovsky explained the motivations behind the strikes, including Iran’s repeated attempts to attack Israel – both directly and through proxies – its nuclear enrichment programme and its development of long-range missiles.
“We have seen that despite the fact that negotiations [between Iran and the United States] have been going on for a while, no solution has been reached. On the other hand, we saw that their production of missiles has dramatically increased,” he said.
“We have a country that intends to destroy us and says it openly, that uses proxies to attack us, that has the nuclear capabilities to build nuclear weapons, and has the missiles to send these nuclear weapons into our country.
“Our government took the only reasonable decision in this case, and it is our duty, to defend our citizens.”


In a separate press briefing by Israel’s embassy in China on Wednesday, an official speaking on condition of anonymity dismissed Chinese statements supporting Iran’s rights to a peaceful nuclear programme.
Last week China’s ambassador to the United Nations Fu Cong said Beijing opposed armed attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities and that “Iran’s right to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy should be fully respected”.
But the official cited findings by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran was not following its safeguards in saying that “it’s obviously not [true]” that the Iranian nuclear programme was peaceful.
Belotserkovsky said the fighting “is not a conflict between Israel and the Iranian people”, and that “we have nothing against the Iranian people”.
He added that Israel had been getting a lot of support from different countries, adding that “by and large, the attitude of the world is very supportive and very positive because people understand that Iran is the root of terror and that it must be stopped”.
Belotserkovsky, who was previously Israel’s ambassador to South Africa and who arrived in Beijing earlier this month, described the new posting as a “very important one”.
He added: “I see my job as improving relations, making them even stronger, making them wider.
“I have to say that our relations right now are very good, very strong. But of course, there are always ways to improve it.”


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Israeli ambassador Eli Belotserkovsky. Photo: SCMP

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News

China

Diplomacy

Eli Belotserkovsky did not rule out the prospect of Beijing helping to mediate between the two bitter enemies


Eli Belotserkovsky did not rule out the prospect of Beijing helping to mediate between the two bitter enemies.


Israel ready to keep talking to China despite criticism of Iran strikes, ambassador says

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Eli Belotserkovsky did not rule out the prospect of Beijing helping to mediate between the two bitter enemies

Eli Belotserkovsky did not rule out the prospect of Beijing helping to mediate between the two bitter enemies