Israeli foreign ministry concerned Biden may lose patience with Israel’s policies on Russia and China
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A document leaked from the Israeli foreign ministry shows officials are concerned the Biden administration may lose patience with Israel if it continues to conduct its diplomatic relations with Russia and China in a manner that undermines US priorities, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports.
Leaked to Israel’s Channel 13 on Tuesday, the internal Foreign Ministry document says: “The Biden administration wants to place the threat from China and Russia at the center of the agenda, and in our assessment, the level of patience toward allies who don’t contribute to this effort will go down.”
In regard to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Israel has so far supplied the Ukrainians with an abundance of humanitarian aid but has refused to provide any military equipment, including aerial defense systems. This policy has been in direct contrast of the US and other NATO countries. Israel has defended its position, saying it needs freedom to act against Iran-backed terror cells in Syria and must therefore maintain relations with Russia which largely controls Syrian airspace.
TOI notes that incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a close personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his previous 12 years in office: it is not known whether this will change when he again comes to power.
In regard to China, Israel recently announced an $18 billion trade relationship between the countries, TOI reports. China is Israel’s largest trading partner in Asia: between 2011 and 2021, the share of Israeli exports to Asia going to China rose from 25 percent to 42%. Both former US president Donald Trump’s administration and now the Biden administration have pressured Israel to be vigilant in its trade relationship with China, especially when negotiating large, potentially sensitive deals.
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