Israel flirts with China to establish Saudi Arabia ties, but can ‘new kid on the block’ Beijing broker deal?

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

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Guy Burton, a Middle East specialist and adjunct professor at the Brussels School of Governance, said China had attempted a “balancing act” again by inviting Netanyahu and Abbas for back-to-back visits – something that had happened twice before in 2013 and 2017.

Since 2013, China has offered a few peace proposals and organised symposia to call for a two-state solution, three-way dialogues, and coordinated international efforts to resolve the conflict. But these were often seen as lacking substance and results.

Burton said Netanyahu’s visit to China this time would most likely see Beijing reiterate its willingness to facilitate talks without offering any concrete plans considering the current status quo: tensions over settlement activities in the West Bank, Israeli military attacks in Jenin that killed a dozen Palestinians and the internal split in Palestine between Fatah and Hamas.

“What you don’t have with the Israelis and the Palestinians is any kind of peace process on the table … there’s absolutely no will or capacity on either the Palestinian or Israeli side to do anything here.”

However, “there’s a signalling thing going on here”, he said of China’s offer to mediate the conflict as the “new kids on the block”.

“It is a slight dig at the Americans saying, you know, you guys are nowhere,” Burton said.

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