As the Biden administration left Afghanistan, the US seemed to have lost the tag of being the world’s protector in a matter of few days. The abrupt American withdrawal and the subsequent Taliban offensive in Afghanistan have left a huge vacuum not only in Afghanistan but also in the Gulf and the Middle East, where US allies seem somewhat insecure now.
So, Russia and China, two main US rivals are looking to fill in the huge vacuum left behind by Biden. Moscow has already started making a successful Middle East push, but China is facing a huge hurdle in the form of Israel, the largest intelligence beast in the Middle East.
As per a latest Breaking Defense report, Israeli government sources said that if China attempts to expand its defence technology ties with Iran or other regional actors antagonistic to Israel, then the Jewish nation could curtail its economic agreements with Beijing as a means of retaliation.
Israeli Defence officials believe that with the US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan creating a huge vacuum in the entire region, the paper dragon will seek to fill the political, economic and, perhaps even the military vacuum left behind by the US.
Breaking Defense quoted one such Israeli defence source as saying, “The diminishing status of the US in the region, especially after what happened in Afghanistan, opens that door for China to become a major player in the Gulf and Middle East.” Simply put, China is desperate to exploit the anti-US sentiment, which is peaking after the hasty troops pull out from Afghanistan.
So, Israel is ready with its economic weapons in the Middle East and it will deploy them the moment Jerusalem feels that China is looking to shore up its presence in the Middle East. Israel understands that China’s Middle East outreach will come at its expense. Presently, China invests heavily in Israeli technology but over the recent past, Israel has realised that China is not a friend.
Galia Lavi, a senior researcher in the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), said, “China continues to support Iran and the Palestinians, with no significant harm to its economic relations with Israel, and at the same time continues its economic relations with Israel while being aware of Israel’s special relationship with the United States.”
Lavi however added that as the US-China ties deteriorate, slandering the US and its allies is becoming a top priority in the Chinese foreign policy.
Lavi explained, “In this sense, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is very useful, and China’s position has broad international support even among some US allies. China’s support for Iran, its increasing assertiveness in international organizations, and its use of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute to taunt the United States could create problems for relations between Jerusalem and Beijing, and even lead Israel to re-examine its relations with China.”
Israel is irked by China’s clear tendency to choose Iran as its main partner. China’s agreement with Iran to spend $400 billion over the next 25 years on the Shi’ite nation and its decision to support Hamas during the 11-day Gaza war earlier this year has done a lot of damage to Israel-China ties.
China was way too vocal in its support for the Palestinian cause during the Gaza war. It drafted United Nations Security Council statements, which condemned only Israel’ actions.
Moreover, China tried to use the Gaza war as an opportunity for deflecting global attention from the Uighur Muslim concentration camps in Xinjiang. In order to repair its anti-Muslim image, Beijing tried to position itself as a proponent of the Palestinian cause.
China actually went as far as running antisemitic propaganda during the Gaza war. A visibly miffed Israel had then protested against China’s antisemitic propaganda.
The Israeli Embassy to China even pointed out a program run by China’s overseas state-run broadcaster CCTV. The Embassy had tweeted, “We have hoped that the times of the ‘Jew’s controlling the world’ conspiracy theories were over, unfortunately anti-Semitism has shown its ugly face again.” It had added, “We are appalled to see blatant anti-Semitism expressed in an official Chinese media outlet.”
And then there are a host of factors at play which undermine the Sino-Israeli relationship. A driving force behind China’s tendency to choose Iran over Israel is the Abraham Accord signed between the UAE and Israel last year. With the UAE and Israel normalizing their bilateral ties last year, Emirati investment in Israeli technology has shot up.
Therefore, Israeli technology is not solely dependent upon Chinese capital any longer. China has lost whatever leverage it enjoyed as the main country investing in Israeli technology. This is why China is itself getting frustrated with Israel. Recently, it even carried out a cyberattack on Israeli systems which manifested the deep cracks in the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
We know for a fact that the Trump administration had asked Israel to distance itself from Beijing. The Trump administration seemed particularly uncomfortable with projects like the Haifa port deal, whereby a key US ally like Israel was seemingly warming up to China. But the Jewish nation had then asserted its right to exercise freedom in relations with China.
Earlier, Israel used to think that it could maintain strong business ties with China despite its special relationship with the US. However, with China’s Iran dealings coming to the surface, Israel fully understands that Chinese outreach in the region will come at the cost of its interests. China is batting for Iran and therefore it will naturally harm Israel.
Jerusalem is however indemnifying itself. Israel has a loud and clear message for China- we will sever business ties, if you try to spread your tentacles into the Middle East. Israel is using its business agreements with China as a bargaining chip and is looking to punish the Communist nation for choosing Iran over the Jewish nation.
Israel is a pivotal power in the Middle East with an extensive and one of the world’s most advanced intelligence networks at its disposal. Therefore, Israeli opposition to China’s Middle East outreach is a major setback for Beijing.
Therefore, as Russia and China look to compete and exploit the vacuum left behind by the US, Moscow has a clear advantage over Beijing, given Israel’s increasingly anti-China position.