June 2025
CIE has compiled the following list of books and articles to help unfold Israel’s foreign relations with key countries in eastern and southern Asia. We have divided the bibliography into five areas: China, India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. We have not included general works about Israel and other Asian countries.
East Asia
Video
Ezra, Aviv, Eran Lerman, Alan Dowty, and Ken Stein, “Israel Between East and West” (34:56), Center for Israel Education, July 25, 2023.Ezra, Aviv, Eran Lerman, Alan Dowty, and Ken Stein,
China
Books
Brecher, Michael. Israel, the Korean War and China: Images, Decisions and Consequences. Jerusalem Academic Press, 1974.
Efron, Shira, Karen Schwindt, and Emily Haskel. Chinese Investment in Israeli Technology and Infrastructure: Security Implications for Israel and the United States. RAND, 2020.
Efron, Shifra, Howard J. Shatz, Arthur Chan, Emily Haskel, Lyle J. Morris, and Andrew Scobell. The Evolving Israel-China Relationship. RAND, 2019.
Goldstein, Jonathan. China and Israel, 1948-1998: A Fifty-Year Retrospective. Praeger, 1999.
Rudolph, Jennifer M., and Michael Szonyi. The China Questions: Critical Insights Into a Rising Power. Harvard University Press, 2018.
Shichor, Yitzhak. Dimensions of China’s Foreign Relations. Praeger, 1977.
Shichor, Yitzhak. The Middle East in China’s Foreign Policy 1949-1977. Cambridge University Press, 1979.
Suffot, E. Zev. A China Diary: Towards the Establishment of China-Israel Diplomatic Relations. Routledge, 1997.
Articles
Cafiero, Giorgio, and Daniel Wagner, “China and the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement,” Middle East Institute, September 22, 2020.
Chaziza, Mordechai, “China in the Middle East: Tourism as a Stealth Weapon,” Middle East Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Fall 2019).
Chaziza, Mordechai, “Chinese VP Visits Israel Innovation Conference,” BESA Center, November 5, 2018.
Dorsey, James, “Rejiggering Gulf Security: China’s Game of Shadow Boxing,” BESA Center, September 4, 2020.
Dostri, Omer, “China-Israel Relations: Growing Cooperation Amidst Conflicting Interests,” Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, October 25, 2018.
Ella, Doron, and Oded Eran, “China’s Deputy Prime Minister Visits Egypt, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority,” Institute for National Security Studies, April 21, 2016.
Gering, Tuvia, “China’s View of the Abraham Accords,” Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, October 20, 2020.
Ghiselli, Andrea, “China and the Middle East: Growing Influence and Divergent Perceptions,” Middle East Institute, April 17, 2018.
Goldstein, Jonathan, “Israel and the Great People of China Today,” Midstream, Vol. 39, No. 6, (1993): 24.
Han, Xiaoxing, “Sino-Israeli Relations,” Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 22, No. 2 (1993): 63-64.
Herman, Arthur, “Podcast: China and the U.S.-Israel ‘Special Relationship,’” Tikvah Fund, December 2019.
Lerman, Eran, “Not Quite That Close: Israel’s Policy Towards China,” Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, November 23, 2018.
Mitnick, Joshua, “Why the U.S. Can’t Get Israel to Break Up With China,” Foreign Policy, June 16, 2020.
Orion, Assaf, and Galia Lavi, “Israel-China Relations: Opportunities and Challenges,” Institute for National Security Studies, August 2019.
Rosen-Koenigsbuch, Jacob, “Who Will Reconstruct War-Torn Syria? China Might Be a Candidate,” Abba Eban Institute of International Diplomacy, September 28, 2018.
Schneider, Tal, “China Trade Is a National Security Issue,” Globes, February 3, 2020.
Segal, Gerard, “China and Israel: Pragmatic Politics,” Sais Review, Vol.7, No. 2 (1987): 196.
Vinai, Matan, Assaf Orion, and Galia Levi. “Israel and China: Toward a Comprehensive Innovative Partnership,” Institute for National Security Studies, March 19, 2017.
Yellinek, Roie, “Is China Intervening in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?” BESA Center, August 13, 2017.
Shichor, Yitzhak, “The U.S. Role in Delaying Sino-Israeli Relations: Two’s a Company, Three’s a Crowd,” Jewish Political Science Review, Vol. 22, Nos. 1-2 (2010): 7-32.
Wald, Shalom Salomon, “China’s Rise, US Opposition, and the Implications for Israel,” Jewish People Policy Institute, February 2020.
Yellinek, Roie, “How Can China Maintain Good Relations With Both Israel and Iran?” Middle East Institute, September 29, 2020.
Yellinek, Roie, “How Did China Win Over the Israeli People?” Middle East Institute, February 11, 2020.
India
Books
Blarel, Nicholas. The Evolution of India’s Israel Policy: Continuity, Change, and Compromise Since 1922. Oxford University Press, 2015.
Kumaraswamy, P.R. India’s Israel Policy. Columbia University Press, 2010.
Ram Mudiam, Prithvi. India and the Middle East. British Academy Press, 1994.
Articles
Blarel, Nicolas, “India-Israel at 25: Defense Ties,” Middle East Institute, April 4, 2017.
Burton, Guy, “India’s ‘Look West’ Policy in the Middle East Under Modi,” Middle East Institute, August 6, 2019.
Dasgupta, Punyapriya, “Betrayal of India’s Israel Policy,” Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 27, Nos. 15-16, 11-18 (1992): 767-772.
Eran, Oded, “India and Israel: A Strategic Alliance?” Institute for National Security Studies, July 6, 2017.
Inbar, Efraim, “Indian Prime Minister Makes Historic Visit to Jerusalem, Skips Ramallah,” BESA Center via Middle East Forum, July 1, 2017.
India Defence News, “India, Israel Sign Cultural Agreement to Further Strengthen People-to-People Ties,” August 22, 2020.
Jaishankar, Dhruva, and Shruti Godbole, “Even as India Attempts to ‘Act East,’ It Is ‘Thinking West,’” Brookings Institution, July 6, 2017.
Kumaraswamy, P.R., “India and Israel: Prelude to Normalization,” Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 19, No. 2 (1995): 53-73.
Kumaraswamy, P.R., “India’s Recognition of Israel, September 1950,” Middle Eastern Studies, Taylor & Francis Ltd., Vol. 31 (1995): 124-138.
Kumaraswamy , P.R., “India’s New Israel Policy: How the Decline of the Palestinian Issue and Economic Reorientation Accelerate Indo-Israeli Cooperation,” Stiftung fur Wissenschaft und Politik, March 11, 2019.
Kumaraswamy, P.R., “India’s New Crush on Israel,” Tablet, August 14, 2017.
Kumaraswamy, P.R., “Strategic Partnership Between Israel and India,” Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 2, No. 2 (1998): 2.
Pethiyagoda, Kadira, “Is It Time for India to Play a Role in Israeli-Palestinian Peace?” Brookings Institution, February 22, 2018.
Rajiv, S. Samuel C., “India and Israel: Strategic Partners on the Move,” BESA Center, January 20, 2018.
Sinai, Allon, “Despite Covid-19 Calamity, India’s Economy Is Primed for Israeli Tech,” Calcalist, September 27, 2020.
Wald, Shalom Salomon, “India’s Israel Relations, the Middle East and China,” Jewish People Policy Institute, October 2017.
Wermenbol, Grace, “A Passage to India: Israel’s Pivot East,” Atlantic Council, July 24, 2019.
Japan
Books
Kranzler, David. Japanese, Nazis, and Jews: The Jewish Refugee Community of Shanghai, 1938-1945. Yeshiva University Press, 1976.
McCarthy, Mary. Routledge Handbook of Japanese Foreign Policy. Routledge, 2018.
Mikitani, Hiroshi, and Ryōichi Mikitani. Power to Compete: An Economist and an Entrepreneur on Revitalizing Japan in the Global Economy. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
Sugihara, Kaoru. Japan in the Contemporary Middle East: A Publication of the SOAS Japan Research Centre and the SOAS Centre of Near and Middle Eastern Studies. Routledge, 2008.
Articles
Brummer, Matthew, and Eitan Oren, “Israel and Japan’s Rising Sun Relations,” Foreign Affairs, July 28, 2018.
Charles, Dani, “Chutzpah Meets Monozukuri: A Look at the Japanese-Israeli Cyber Relationship,” Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA, September 24, 2019.
Cohen, Yaacov, “Japanese-Israel Relations, the United States, and Oil,” Jewish Political Studies Review, Vol. 17, Nos. 1/2 (April 1, 2005): 135-155.
Kaminer, Michael, “Japan’s Israeli Food Wave — and More Need-to-Know Food News,” Forward, June 8, 2016.
Kazuo, Miyazi, “Middle East Studies in Japan,” Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, Vol. 34, No. 1 (2000): 23-36.
Landau, Noa, “Despite Support for Palestinians, As China Grows Stronger, Japan Seeks Closer Ties With Israel,” Haaretz, May 2, 2018.
Lerman, Eran, “Khamenei’s Slant on WWII: Iran Must Not Go the Way of Germany and Japan,” BESA Center, September 28, 2016.
Medzini, Meron, “Japan and the Middle East,” Hamizrach Hachadash, Vol. 22, No. 1 (1972): 37.
Newman, Glenn, “Japanese and Israelis Could Make a Killer Yin-and-Yang Combo,” The Japan Times, January 19, 2015.
Pick, Adi, “Japanese Interest in Israeli Tech Continues to Surge,” Calcalist, December 1, 2019.
Radtke, Kurt W., “Japan-Israel Relations in the Eighties,” Asian Survey, Vol. 28, No. 5 (1988): 526-540.
Reingold, Ruth N., and Paul Lansing, “An Ethical Analysis of Japan’s Response to the Arab Boycott of Israel,” Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 3 (1994): 335.
Shamah, David, “New Israel-Japan Agreement Follows in Wake of Sony Deal,” The Times of Israel, March 11, 2016.
Stern, Willy, “Japan: A Willing Participant in the Arab Boycott of Israel,” Middle East Review, Vol. 21, No. 1 (1988): 47.
Udasin, Sharon, “Israel, Japan Sign Economic Cyber Cooperation Agreement,” The Jerusalem Post, May 3, 2017.
Udasin, Sharon, “Israeli-Japanese Partnerships on Business Tech Blossoming,” The Jerusalem Post, January 24, 2017.
Wasteson, Karin, “Japanese Investments in Israeli Tech Innovation on the Rise,” Private Equity Wire UK, September 16, 2020.
Singapore
Books
Abadi, Jacob. Israel’s Quest for Recognition and Acceptance in Asia. London: Frank Cass, 2004.
Huxley, Tim. Defending the Lion City: The Armed Forces of Singapore. Allen & Unwin, 2001.
Senior, Dan, and Saul Singer. Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 2014.
Tomba, Mattia (ed.). Beating the Odds Together: 50 Years of Singapore-Israelite Ties. Singapore: Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore, 2020.
Articles
Alster, Paul, “Behind the Iron Dome: Key Engineer Tells How Israeli Defense System Saved Lives,” Fox News, December 2, 2012.
Barzilai, Amnon, “A Deep, Dark, Secret Love Affair,” Haaretz, July 16, 2004.
Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, Foreign Trade Administration, “Singapore-Israel Trade Hits Almost $2 billion in 2013,” January 17, 2014.
Jaipragas, Bhavan, “Netanyahu’s Drama-Free Singapore Trip: Are Malaysia, Indonesia Finally Warming to Israel?” South China Morning Post, February 25, 2017.
Mittelman, Sharyn, “Israel and Singapore — out of the Shadows,” The Jerusalem Post, June 6, 2016.
Osman, Maliki, “Speech by Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Maliki Osman During the Committee of Supply Debate,” Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, March 2, 2020.
South Korea
Articles
Alper, Tim, “Talmud-Inspired Learning Craze Sweeps South Korea,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, January 14, 2019.
Arbes, Ross, “How the Talmud Became a Best-Seller in South Korea,” The New Yorker, June 23, 2015.
Bachner, Michael, “Rivlin Visits Korean Demilitarized Zone, Calling It ‘The Mouth of a Volcano,’” The Times of Israel, July 17, 2019.
Barak, Naama, “South Koreans Are Flocking to Israel for Bible Study … Why?” Israel21c, May 26, 2019.
Cohen, Yaacov, “The Improvement in Israeli-South Korean Relations,” Jewish Political Studies Review, Vol. 18, Nos. 1/2 (2006): 105-118.
Coren, Ora, and Hagai Amit, “Israel Agrees on Trade Deal With South Korea That Excludes West Bank, East Jerusalem, Golan,” Haaretz, August 22, 2019.
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Israel and South Korea Declare Conclusion to Joint Negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement,” August 21, 2019.
Hoffman, Maayan. “Israel and South Korea Gow Closer Based on History, Business, Innovation … and God,” Jewish News Syndicate, February 26, 2018.
Lee, David, “South Korean Christians Build Closer Media Ties With Israel,” The Jerusalem Post, September 4, 2018.
Levkowitz, Alon, “Korea and the Middle East Turmoil: A Reassessment of South Korea-Middle East Relations,” The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, Vol. 24, No. 2 (2012): 225-238.
Levkowitz, Alon, “South Korean Popular Culture as a Confidence-Building Measure (CBM) in the Middle East,” Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, Vol. 11, No. 1 (2017): 91-99.
Levkowitz, Alon, “South Korea’s Middle East Policy,” BESA Center, Mideast Security and Policy Studies, 106 (2013): 1-32.
Levkowitz, Alon, “The Republic of Korea and the Middle East: Economics, Diplomacy, and Security,” Korea Economic Institute, Academic Paper Series, Vol. 5, No. 6 (2010): 1-9.
Levkowitz, Alon, “Upgrading Israeli-South Korean Relations: Can Seoul Tilt in Favor of Jerusalem?” Middle East Institute, September 15, 2014.
Lyan, Irina, and Alon Levkowitz, “From Holy Land to ‘Hallyu Land’: The Symbolic Journey Following the Korean Wave in Israel,” Journal of Fandom Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1 (2015): 7-21.
Ningthoujam, Alvite Singh, “Israel-South Korea Relations: The Military Dimension,” Contemporary Review of the Middle East, Vol. 4, No. 2 (2007): 168-192.
Podoler, Guy, “Diplomacy in Play: The Role of Sport in Early Korea-Israel Relations,” in Sport in Korea: History, Development, Management, Dae Hee Kwak, Yong Jae Ko, Inkyu Kang and Mark Rosentraub (eds.), London and New York, Routledge (2018).
Podoler, Guy, “A South Korean Progressive Outlook on the Middle East Conflict: Contextualizing Hankyoreh’s Coverage of the Gaza War,” Korea Observer, Vol. 44 (2013): 223-247.
Podoler, Guy, “Another Orient in Early Zionist Thought: East Asia in the Press of the Ben-Yehuda Family,” Israel Affairs, Vol. 19, No. 3 (2013): 433-450.
Podoler, Guy, “Enter the ‘Far East’: Korean Culture in Early South Korea-Israel Relations,” International Journal of Cultural Policy, Vol. 20, No. 5 (2014): 519-535.
Scheer, Steven, “Israel, South Korea Forge Free Trade Deal,” Reuters, August 21, 2019.
Shamah, David, “Israel and South Korea Could Be Economic Powerhouse,” The Times of Israel, November 14, 2013.
Song, NIU, “God Belief in South Korea-Israel Relations,” World Journal of Islamic History and Civilization, Vol. 4, No. 4 (2014): 139-145.
The Times of Israel, “Israel Inks Free-Trade Deal With South Korea Despite Settlement Row,” August 21, 2019.
Young, Sam Ma, “Israel’s Role in the UN During the Korean War,” Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, Vol. 4, No. 3 (2010): 81-89.
