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Asia Is Becoming Israel's New Frontier - Here's Why

(Forbes) Jonathan Adelman and Asaf Romirowsky - Economically, Israel's rapid transition to a "start-up nation" echoes the great transformation underway in such Asian countries as India, China and the Four Tigers. Scientifically, Israel has emerged as a high-tech superpower, thereby very attractive to Asian high tech. Politically, the growing threat of Islamism draws many of these countries towards a country that is in the forefront of fighting this threat. Militarily, the Israeli military, a world leader in anti-missile technology and UAVs, with $5 billion in military exports, is attractive to Asian countries developing their own militaries. Most of all, Israel has developed strong relations with China and India, which had no diplomatic relations with Israel before 1992. Militarily, Israel is the second biggest arms exporter to India today, and at one time in the '90s Israel was the second biggest arms exporter to China. Economically, Israel can claim $5 billion worth of trade with India and over $8 billion with China. Politically, Israel supports India in its fight over Kashmir and against Pakistan, while China also battles Islamic fundamentalism in Xinjiang Province. In addition, Israel has extensive trade with Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam. It also has growing economic and educational ties with Singapore. Israel has developed strong relations too with former Soviet states including Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. As China and India have risen economically, so has Israel's global status. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's four-day visit to China last week highlights the importance of China to Israel. As Chinese Ambassador to Israel Gao Yanping stated ahead of the visit, "China views its relationship with Israel with tremendous importance." Truly Asia is the new frontier for Israel in the 21st century. Jonathan Adelman is a professor of international studies at the University of Denver. Asaf Romirowsky is the acting executive director for Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME). Today's issue of Daily Alert was prepared in Israel on Isru Chag.
2013-05-16 00:00:00
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