1 A Passage to Asia The Rise of Israel-Asia Relations since the 1990s and Their Current Nature Rotem Kowner and Yoram Evron By the early 2020s, Israel had come to regard Asia as a vital pillar of its inter- national relations as well as a crucial element in its future development. It cur- rently maintains diplomatic relations with no fewer than 21 Asian countries beyond the confines of the Middle East and the transcontinental region of the Caucasus (see Map 1.1). 1 Asia also makes up about a quarter of Israel’ s inter- national trade, and some 30 to 60 percent of its arms exports. 2 This is a rather new situation, as this continent had heretofore never occupied a significant place in Israel’ s economic affairs, let alone in its future vision. Incredibly, it was only some thirty years ago that this state of affairs was entirely different. At that point, Israel had no diplomatic relations with either China or India, whereas other significant players in this continent largely ignored it. The takeoff in Israel’ s relations with Asia took place in the early 1990s. Some four decades after Israel had established its first diplomatic ties in the Asian continent, the walls that had kept it apart began to crumble. In 1992, Israel set up diplomatic relations with China and India and began to improve its relations with Japan and South Korea significantly. During the same year, Israel also began to establish relations with the new Muslim republics in Central Asia. One year later, it established or restored its diplomatic relations with the Lao People’ s Democratic Republic (Laos), Vietnam, and Cambodia, and expanded its ties with several more Asian countries within a decade. Nonetheless, and as significant as Israel’ s breakthrough in Asia may have been, this development was only a starting point. Restricted at first to con- tacts with Asia’ s weak states based on military and technological aid and involving limited interactions with each of them, relations now expanded to the majority of Asian countries, covering a broad variety of areas and encompassing various circles and sectors in the states concerned. As such, this evolving Asian network has provided Israel with a variety of new poli- tical, economic, strategic, and other opportunities, while affecting its rela- tions with states outside Asia. This new set of relations has also presented Israel with fresh challenges and dilemmas and, at times, forced it to make hard choices. Indeed, this transition represented a challenging process, both perceptually and practically, to Israel, but one which has also held great benefits and promise. DOI: 10.4324/9781003317142-1