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China-Middle East relations
ChinaDiplomacy

Israel’s close economic ties with China worked well – until the Gaza conflict

  • Analysts point to Beijing not condemning Hamas, anti-Israel comments on Chinese social media and special envoy not visiting Israel
  • China is Israel’s second-largest trading partner behind the US but Israel’s China policy may change in light of the war

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, is pictured with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2017. Analysts say Israel may rethink its relationship with Beijing in light of the Gaza war. Photo: Pool Photo via AP
Hayley Wong

For years Israel’s economic ties with China worked well, attracting billion of dollars in Chinese investment to its hi-tech industries and infrastructure.

Then last month Hamas attacked Israel and China has not spoken out against the group.

Beijing also vetoed a US-backed proposal at the UN Security Council last month because it did not call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war, drawing criticism from Israel’s representative to the United Nations.

Analysts said the war revealed the limits of the one-time growing partnership between China and Israel. But the extent of the impact on Israel’s China policy remains to be seen.

03:05

Humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza as food supplies run out after total Israeli blockade

Humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza as food supplies run out after total Israeli blockade

China’s lack of condemnation of Hamas, together with some anti-Israel rhetoric on Chinese social media, had made Israelis realise that China chooses sides, said Gedaliah Afterman, the head of Asia policy programme at the Abba Eban Institute for Diplomacy and Foreign Relations in Israel.

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