Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to visit China next month, which signals growing impatience on behalf of the Israeli government with Washington for not having not invited Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s last visit to China was in 2017, at the head of a large trade delegation.
The prime minister is scheduled to meet with President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders. Advanced talks have been held in recent days between the two leaders' offices to arrange the visit, according to a report initially published by The Times of Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly set to visit China amid a push from Beijing to help in Middle East peace negotiations@Tommy_Herzliya joins to discuss the visit and how the rift between the US and Israel continues to grow#i24NEWSDesk | @ariel_margalith pic.twitter.com/ZPKxg17hy1
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) June 27, 2023
No dates were given for the visit. The Prime Minister's office stated that "there is no comment at the moment." The Chinese Embassy in Tel Aviv did not respond to a request for comment. The visit is intended, among other things, to signal to Washington that Netanyahu has other diplomatic opportunities, Israeli diplomatic sources claim. US President Biden said that Netanyahu will not be invited in the near future, due to the protests in Israel against the Judicial Reform.
"Netanyahu does not intend to stand and wait for an invitation that will not arrive to visit the White House. He is also working through parallel channels," said one diplomatic source. "China has increased its involvement in the Middle East recently, and the prime minister should be there to represent Israel's interests," the source added.
Netanyahu set to visit China next month, in trip seen likely to annoy Biden | The Times of Israel
— Shoshana II שושנה 🦁🌞 (@crayandrizzy) June 26, 2023
😂😂🤣🤣Good. Fuck Biden. Blinky was just in China , making a mockery of America. https://t.co/tgou3ganMD
Against the background of the report that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is expected to visit China next month, former IDF Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin spoke with Israeli reporters and warned against the move, claiming that it will harm Israeli interests.
"The briefing on the Prime Minister's intention to visit China next month, as a signal to the Biden administration that Israel has strategic alternatives to a powerful support, is an Israeli attempt to imitate the Saudi 'diversification of supports' policy," writes the former head of the IDF Intelligence Corps and explains that "this is a move that will harm the interest of Israel and will not promote it."
According to the general: "If someone in the prime minister's environment thinks it is wise to behave like Bin Salman and go to China to annoy Biden and show him that Israel has another strategic option, they are making a bitter mistake and we do not understand the importance of the competition between the powers in the geopolitics of the 21st century."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with members of the US House of Representatives and informed them that he has been invited to visit China.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) June 27, 2023
The projected visit will be Prime Minister Netanyahu's fourth visit to China; the American administration was updated one month ago.
Yadlin also mentions that "China regularly votes against Israel in the UN, traditionally supports the Palestinian positions, is in a strategic alliance with Iran and is not a substitute for the security, intelligence and operational cooperation that Israel maintains with the USA."
