Writing about China and Israel brings back pleasant memories. Nearly twenty-eight years ago I stood by the side of Israel’s foreign minister David Levy as he affixed the traditional Jewish symbol of abode, the Mezuzah, on the doorjamb of the newly established embassy of Israel in Beijing. It was a humble and temporary office, but we all knew that a more permanent one, befitting a home for the new embassy, would soon be built. All of us on the Israeli delegation realized that this was the culmination of a very long journey. It should be stated, though, that despite my official position at the time, the following columns are entirely my own thoughts and reflections and do not represent any official Israeli position.The beginning was murky. Until the nineteenth century, there was not much contact between Jews and China. Indeed, both civilizations are very old and have inspired humankind in many fields for over three millennia, but they did not have direct contact or a real mutual exchange. Following the destruction of the Jerusalem Second Temple and the Jewish state by the Roman Empire in the year AD 70, Jews were scattered all over the world. Consequently, their footprint can be found in the Arab and Islamic world, in Eastern and Western Europe, in the Americas and in Asia, but hardly at all in China. There is some evidence of Jewish traders who, in medieval times, availed themselves of the ancient Silk Road, but there was only a meagre Jewish diaspora or a self-sustaining Jewish community in China.[1] Most notably was the community of the Kaifeng Jews, a small community in the province of Hunan. Though they all but disappeared by the 1850s, their memory lingers on and the building of their old synagogue, which was built in1163, still exists and even depicted in the Diaspora House at the Tel Aviv University campus.[2]During the nineteenth century Jewish traders, mainly from India, Persia and Iraq but also from European countries began arriving in the Chinese eastern coast. Jews were welcome in China and in 1903, a Baghdadi Jew by the name of Nissim Ezra had established “the Zionist Association of Shanghai”. Apparently, there were no locally originated anti-Semitic outbursts. The few events that did take place in Harbin and in Shanghai, were instigated either the Czarist Russian Empire or, later, by the Japanese.[3]Following the Russian revolution, many Russian Jews found refuge in Harbin, creating a community of some 25,000 people with schools, medical establishments and various community organizations. However, after the Japanese occupation of Harbin in 1931, the community began to dwindle and most of its members left for foreign countries. By 1949, the Harbin community had practically ceased to exist.[4]Throughout the hard years prior to the Second World War and especially during the Holocaust, China provided shelter for Jewish refugees from Germany, Austria and the entire German-occupied Europe. These refugees numbered some 33,000 people, topping the old Baghdadi Jewish community of some 6,000 Jews.[5] Indeed, Israelis (and Jews in general) well remember that China offered some refuge for Jews who, at that time, where hunted and persecuted in Europe and in the Middle East.Politically, in the first fifty years of the twentieth century, Jews all over the globe were striving to recreate their national, independent state, and had thus focused their main efforts on Western powers, such as the United Kingdom and later the United States. However, once the People’s Republic of China came into being in 1949, the newly established State of Israel was very quick in recognizing the new Chinese government as the legitimate one. On 9 January 1950, Israel’s first foreign minister, Moshe Sharett, informed his Chinese counterpart, Zhou Enlai, in a customary diplomatic message, of Israel’s recognition of China’s new government. Zhou Enlai answered courteously[6] and Israel brcame the sixth nation to recognize the New China, following Burma (today’s Myanmar), Ceylon (today’s Sri Lanka), Pakistan, the United Kingdom and Norway.[7]Nevertheless, despite readily recognizing each other, the two countries did not establish full diplomatic relations for many years to come. Israel’s founding Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, reflecting in his later years on his early foreign policy, stated emphatically that “the Chinese are an essential and very important key for the peace of the entire world”International Issues: Society & State vol.47 (1986) ［in Hebrew］, p. 82.">[8] and the two countries tried, on several occasions, to establish at least good economic relations. However, on the political level relations remained stiff and cold. Looking back it seems that they were not able to cross their lines of proximity or commitment to the Arab world (China) or to the West and the United States (Israel). Thus, notwithstanding the good, initial beginning, the mutual relations had steadily deteriorated. It was not until the mid-1980’s that Israel and China could have begun their slow and careful tango towards each other. Israel based its new approach on the understanding of China’s international political and economic magnitude and role. China, on the other hand, began to realize the benefits of closer ties, in the times of a post American-Soviet confrontation, with an up-and-coming innovative and scientifically advanced small economy and of the fruits this move could bear. Especially, given the nascent but on-going regional peace process that came in the wake of the brazen, but failed Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.Being aware of the Anglo-Chinese agreement of 1984, to return the British crown colony of Hong-Kong to China by 1997, Israel opened a consulate general in that city, with a view to promote the mutual contacts with Beijing once the colony moves back to Chinese sovereignty. The Hong Kong consulate general became a dynamic factor in promoting Sino-Israeli relations. It had initiated academic exchanges between institutions of higher education, mutual participation in scientific conferences, trading contacts between various companies and introducing many new Israeli technologies into China.This atmosphere of cooperation brought about numerous exchanges in many fields, including defense, and a crisis between the two countries over the Israeli built Falcon system, which Israel later had aborted. However, that disappointment may have ushered in two decades of significant and vibrant economic and technological cooperation. Today, in the framework of the “Innovative Comprehensive Partnership”. Israel and China enjoy an elaborate system of G2G (Government-to-Government) mechanism, allowing for various agreements and arrangements to flourish. Israel, “the Start-Up nation”, is a member in an elite club of advanced small economies (together with Singapore, New Zealand, Ireland, Finland, Denmark and Switzerland). Denmark, for example, had opened its first Innovation Center in Tel Aviv more than two years ago. In fact, Israeli technologies are now available in all realms of life and in many countries, including China. Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed this realization following his meeting with Israel’s PM Netanyahu in March 2019. The China Daily quoted him as follows: “Israel is a world-renowned innovative country, and at the same time, China is also pushing forward innovation-driven development, so innovation has become the common focus of our two countries. It is also the priority to our cooperation.”China Daily, March 22, 2017, http://chinadaily.com.cn/china/2017-03/22/content_28633164.htm. Quoted by Haggai Shagrir, “Israel-China Relations - A Comprehensive Partnership in Innovation” ［in Hebrew］ memo №185 of Israel National Security Studies, Tel Aviv December 2018. See at: https://www.inss.org.il/he/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/12/memo185_China.pdf.">[9]Israeli High Tech innovations, like the disk on key, the advanced mobile phone or the Intel chip can be found everywhere. Citing just a few examples or cooperation with China, one could think of agriculture, where Israeli methods of intensive agriculture were part of the vision of the five “Israeli farms” in China. These farms were created with the idea of jointly developing methods of securing Food Safety. Israeli companies, such as Netafim, introduced to China the system of drip irrigation, which could save a lot of water. Being a nearly-Sahel country, Israel is acutely aware of the scarcity of water in a drying world, and had developed water desalination and system that now provides some eighty percent of the country’s water consumption.In medicine, Israeli technologies such as Laser operations or the intestinal pill-camera, which allows doctors to examine a patient without the need of a penetrating procedure of colonoscopy. This ground-breaking technology is now available worldwide. Israeli doctors and emergency responders had many opportunities to improve their methods and are willing to share their expertise abroad. Thus, Israeli companies now provide emergency equipment and materiel to the Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai.In culture, Israelis are intrigued by the richness of China’s history and culture as can be seen in their welcoming of the Confucius Institute in the Tel Aviv University. On the other end, the world-renowned Israel Philharmonic Orchestra performed in China and so did the Bath-Sheba Ballet Ensemble. Chinese publishing houses have published translations of many Israeli authors, such as David Grossman, Etgar Keret, Meir Shalev and above all Amos Oz who has twenty-three of his novels translated in China. China even pronounced 2012 as “the Amos Oz year”.[10]In general, most Israelis view China favorably[11] and Israel as a nation is among the top five in positive attitudes towards China.[12] However, getting to better know each other means more P2P (People-to-People) relationships, or tourism. In fact, there are some thirty weekly flights now between Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv and various destinations in China, mostly flown by Chinese carriers. More than 100,000 Israelis explore China annually and we expect some 200,000 Chinese travelers to visit Israel by the end of 2019.On the higher education level, Israel and China have gone a long way. The Israel Scientific Fund (ISF) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSF) had introduced a joint program worth tens of millions of dollars, and have already sponsored over 130 joint research programs in basic science. China and Israel have also established a forum of the seven leading universities of each nation and created a joint program of awarding hundreds of scholarships to students. Israeli universities have developed mutual relationships with various Chinese universities. Most notably, the Technion of Haifa, one of the ten leading technological universities worldwide, had opened in 2017 the Guangdong Technion Israel Institute of Technology, in association with Shantou University.On the Chinese end of the relations equation, the Chinese interest in Israel, its culture and the opportunities it can provide, was exemplified by the deep curiosity of Chinese visitors in the Israeli pavilion in the World Expo of 2010 in Shanghai. Over three million visitors had visited the Israeli Pavilion during the six-month duration of the exhibition.[13]China now considers Israel as a member of the Twenty-first Century Maritime Silk Road and, subsequently, many Chinese companies are active in advanced projects in Israel. For example, the amazing Mt. Carmel Tunnels, which go below the city of Haifa and shorten travel time to the Israeli north, were built by a partnership of Chinese and Israeli companies, and so are the Metropolitan Tel Aviv Light Train and the extension of the Jerusalem Light Train. In addition, some 6,000 Chinese construction workers now help building much needed housing projects all over Israel.In 2014, Israel had joined, as a founding member, the Chinese initiated and run “Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank”. The chart below shows that, while in 1992 the mutual trade between the two countries was less $50mn, by 2006, it reached $4,5bn[14], and in 2018, the mutual trade had peaked at over $15bn, Israeli exports concentrating on electronics and agricultural technologies. In recent years, China has become Israel’s second largest trading partner, and both countries currently explore the feasibility of having a Free Trade Agreement, hoping to conclude the discussion favorably in 2020.This economic growth is also reflected in a diplomatic one. From a single consulate general in a British colony on the Chinese coast, Israel now has representations in five major Chinese cities. Besides the embassy in Beijing, which is one of the largest embassies Israel has, there are consulates general in Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong. In fact, there are more Israeli diplomatic missions only in the United States.As China emerges into a leading world power, Israel follows the Chinese noble idea of building a Community of Shared Future and the ensuing pre-condition it requires of Middle East governance[15] as well as president Xi Jinping’s ensuing Belt and Road Initiative. The very first principle of the shared future initiative, namely, “not to do to others what you would not like done to yourself” sounds like one of Judaism’s most important decrees. Our sages told us of a gentile who once approached Hillel the elder, a leading Torah thinker and interpreter in the first century B.C., asking him to teach him the entire Torah “on one foot” (instantly). To this, Hillel the elder answered simply: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor; that is the entire Torah, the rest is just commentary, now go and study.”[16] The shared future initiative is therefore neither strange nor alien to Israel and to Israelis.Trusting that every project included in this daring initiative would be conducted according to internationally accepted norms and standards, it seems like a very good idea that could constructively build infrastructures and promote stability. Like China, Israel supports global and regional stability. In that spirit and based on the friendship and cooperation between China and Israel, Israel welcomes a balanced approach in the Middle East. In his address to the Arab League Headquarters in Cairo on 21 January 2016, China’s president Xi Jinping[17] expressed many positions that could be welcome to Israel, including that “China firmly supports The Middle East peace process” and is in favor of “putting in place a new mechanism to promote peace on the Middle East question”. Like president Xi Jinping, Israel knows that the Middle East is a “land of abundance” that should benefit from “dialogue and development” and a political settlement.Bringing back governance to the Middle East requires more than just addressing the Palestinian issue. As President Xi Jinping referred to in his aforementioned speech, “the current state of affairs in Syria ［is］ unsustainable” as well as to the need to assist the people of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya and Yemen.[18] All these conflicts are homegrown and have nothing to do with the Palestinian issue or with Israel. If there is a single common denominator to the various local conflicts in various corners of the Middle East, it is terrorism. Whether committed by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, ISIS, and al-Qaeda or instigated by Iran as a tool to promote Teheran’s aspirations of hegemony in the Fertile Crescent, Terrorism is the main source of regional instability. Any desire to bring about governance in the Middle East in order to facilitate a global Community of Shared Future should do no better than to address terrorism. We should remember the need to stand up to terrorism as we rise tall in promoting economy, development and peaceful political contacts among people and nations.