Powerbase - User contributions [en]

Zionist connections in Taiwan

2026-10-21T22:28:46Z

Geography Bot: Redirect to Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Taiwan

#REDIRECT [[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Taiwan]]

Zionist connections in Mongolia

2026-10-21T22:28:11Z

Geography Bot: Redirect to Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Mongolia

#REDIRECT [[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Mongolia]]

Zionist connections in North Korea

2026-10-21T22:27:50Z

Geography Bot: Redirect to Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to North Korea

#REDIRECT [[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to North Korea]]

Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Taiwan

2026-10-21T22:27:30Z

Geography Bot: New page: Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections (East Asia B2); every reference checked

{{short description|'''Taiwan: a Jewish community of about 100 in Taipei, unofficial representative offices with "Israel" since 1993, Israeli missile boats and anti-ship missiles in the 1970s–80s, Knesset delegations, and a disputed pledge to a medical centre in a West Bank settlement'''}}
'''Taiwan''' has about 100 Jews, nearly all in Taipei, according to the [[World Jewish Congress]] (WJC).<ref name="WJCTW">World Jewish Congress, [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/TW Community in Taiwan, Province of China] ''worldjewishcongress.org'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> "Israel" has been diplomatically committed to Beijing since 1992 and has no diplomatic relations with Taipei,<ref name="ThinkChina2025" /> but the two sides have kept representative offices since 1993.<ref name="ISECOabout">Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, [https://embassies.gov.il/taipei/en/the-office/about About The Office] ''embassies.gov.il'', accessed 21 October 2026 (Israeli government-side).</ref> The [[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]] (SIPRI) records Israeli Dvora missile boats, built under licence, and Gabriel anti-ship missiles for Taiwan in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name="SIPRI">Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, [https://armstransfers.sipri.org SIPRI Arms Transfers Database] ''SIPRI'', trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.</ref> In 2025 Taiwan's representative in "Israel" visited a medical centre being built in a West Bank settlement, which Israeli media reported as a donation and Taiwan's foreign ministry said was not a funding plan.<ref name="INN2025">[https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/411231 Historic Support: Taiwan donates to new medical center in Binyamin region] ''Israel National News'', 6 July 2025, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="CNA2025">[https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202508030176.aspx 民團抗議台以醫療合作　外交部：在本雅明無具體計畫] ("Civic groups protest Taiwan–Israel medical co-operation; foreign ministry: no concrete plan in Binyamin") ''Central News Agency'', 3 August 2025, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

==Jewish community and religious life==
===History and demography===
According to the [[World Jewish Congress|WJC]], a Jewish community made up mainly of American military personnel was set up in Taiwan in the 1950s and dwindled when US forces withdrew. The present community was founded in the mid-1970s by foreign businessmen. Nearly all of its roughly 100 members live in Taipei; most are posted there for two or three years by multinational companies or international organisations. More than half are American citizens and a quarter are Israelis.<ref name="WJCTW" />

===Communal organisations===
'''Taipei Jewish Community.''' The WJC lists the Taipei Jewish Community, with Benjamin Schwall as president. Regular Shabbat and holiday services are held at a hotel in Taipei.<ref name="WJCTW" />
:''How far is it Zionist?'' No statement by the community on Zionism or "Israel" was found.

===Chabad===
:''Main article: [[Chabad Lubavitch of Taiwan]]''

==Zionist groups==
'''Israel-Taiwan parliamentary friendship group.''' The Knesset's Israel-Taiwan parliamentary friendship group is chaired by Boaz Toporovsky. According to the Taiwanese presidential office, he had led three cross-party delegations to Taiwan by September 2025, and in July 2025 initiated a Knesset statement backing Taiwan's international participation, which he said was signed by 72 members, a majority of the Knesset. Meeting President Lai Ching-te in Taipei on 16 September 2025, he thanked Taiwan for helping to build a resilience centre at Kibbutz Palmahim for survivors of 7 October.<ref name="President2025">Office of the President, Republic of China (Taiwan), [https://english.president.gov.tw/NEWS/7009 President Lai meets Israel-Taiwan parliamentary friendship group Chair Boaz Toporovsky] ''president.gov.tw'', 16 September 2025, accessed 21 October 2026 (Taiwanese government-side).</ref>

'''Pro-Palestinian opposition.''' On the day of Toporovsky's meeting with Lai, a vigil in Taipei mourned Palestinians killed in Gaza, with slogans including "Stop the genocide" and "Abolish Zionism, Free Palestine".<ref name="AA2025vigil">Berk Kutay Gokmen, [https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/taiwan-vigil-honors-slain-palestinians-as-israeli-delegation-meets-lai-in-taipei/3689721 Taiwan vigil honors slain Palestinians as Israeli delegation meets Lai in Taipei] ''Anadolu Agency'', 16 September 2025, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> The Taiwan Alliance for a Free Palestine and other groups say several Taiwanese companies supply components for American and Israeli weapons systems.<ref name="AA2025protest">Girard Lopez, [https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/hundreds-protest-against-taiwan-s-ties-with-israel-amid-genocide-in-gaza/3649571 Hundreds protest against Taiwan's ties with Israel amid genocide in Gaza] ''Anadolu Agency'', 3 August 2025, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

==Israeli state and commercial ties==
===Diplomacy===
The Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei says it has worked since 1993 to connect the two societies and provides consular services.<ref name="ISECOabout" /> Its list of agreements with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Tel Aviv includes agreements on opening the offices, science and technology, double taxation, visa waivers, air transport and water technologies, and a memorandum on exchanging financial intelligence on money laundering and the financing of terrorism.<ref name="ISECObilateral">Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, [https://embassies.gov.il/taipei/en/the-office/bilateral-relations Bilateral relations] ''embassies.gov.il'', accessed 21 October 2026 (Israeli government-side).</ref> The Taiwanese presidential office says the two sides have signed 34 co-operation agreements.<ref name="President2025" />
:''Source conflict:'' ''Anadolu Agency'' says the two sides have kept representative offices since 1992;<ref name="AA2025vigil" /> the Israeli office gives 1993.<ref name="ISECOabout" />

In September 2025 Lai told the Knesset delegation that he hoped to deepen co-operation in "semiconductors, ICT, digital security, and emerging defense technologies". The Israeli organisation [[Magen David Adom]] was invited to share its experience of combat casualty care at a forum of the presidential office's Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee.<ref name="President2025" />

===Military and intelligence===
[[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute|SIPRI]] records the following Israeli deliveries to Taiwan:<ref name="SIPRI" />
*41 Shafrir-2 air-to-air missiles for F-104 and F-5E aircraft, delivered in 1975;
*about 50 Dvora missile boats, ordered in 1979 and delivered in 1980–86, produced under licence in Taiwan as the Hai Ou;
*about 500 Gabriel-2 anti-ship missiles, delivered in 1980–92, known in Taiwan as the Hsiung Feng-1, which SIPRI says were possibly produced in Taiwan without a licence;
*one Astra-SPX light transport aircraft, delivered in 2000 to a civilian company for target towing.
In December 2025 Hao Nan wrote in ''ThinkChina'' that Taiwan's deputy foreign minister had reportedly made a secret trip to "Israel" that month. Hao argued that Taiwan has long sought Israeli expertise in missile defence, avionics, electronic warfare and drones through intermediaries, and that the ties now run through dual-use technology, third-country procurement and intelligence and cyber co-operation.<ref name="ThinkChina2025">Hao Nan, [https://www.thinkchina.sg/politics/beneath-radar-taiwan-israel-security-between-us-and-china Beneath the radar: Taiwan-Israel security between US and China] ''ThinkChina'', 22 December 2025, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

'''Pagers used against Hezbollah.''' The pagers that exploded in Lebanon in September 2024 carried labels pointing to the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo. Its head said he had licensed the brand to BAC Consulting, a company in Hungary, and the Taiwanese government said that none of the components had been made in Taiwan. The attack was blamed on "Israel"; the BBC cited a ''New York Times'' report, quoting Israeli intelligence officers, that BAC was a shell company acting as a front for "Israel".<ref name="BBC2024">Peter Hoskins, [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93yg2w53dzo Hezbollah pager blasts: Taiwan says device parts not made on island] ''BBC News'', 20 September 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

===The Binyamin medical centre===
''Israel National News'' reported in July 2025 that Taiwan's representative in "Israel", Abby Lee, toured the Binyamin Regional Council in the occupied West Bank with Ohad Tal, a Knesset member from the Religious Zionism party, met the council head and Yesha Council chairman Yisrael Ganz, and "presented a financial donation" to the Nanasi Medical Center being built in Sha'ar Binyamin. It called this "the first time a foreign country has decided to donate toward the development of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria".<ref name="INN2025" /> About 500 people protested outside the Taiwanese foreign ministry on 3 August 2025. The ministry said it had no concrete plan to fund anything in Binyamin,<ref name="CNA2025" /> and that Lee's July visit was only to "explore medical cooperation". It pointed to a $500,000 donation to Palestinian refugees through Mercy Corps; ''Anadolu Agency'' reported that Taiwan had also given $500,000 to Israeli medical patrols.<ref name="AA2025protest" />
:''Source conflict:'' ''Israel National News'' says a donation was presented; the Taiwanese foreign ministry says there was no funding plan.<ref name="INN2025" /><ref name="CNA2025" />

===Trade===
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics lists Taiwan separately. In 2025 "Israel" imported goods worth $1,341.6 million from Taiwan (2024: $1,146.3 million) and exported goods worth $1,108.6 million to it (2024: $946.4 million).<ref name="CBS">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2026/fr_trade12_2025/td1.pdf Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports] ''CBS'', December 2025 issue (library copy) (Israeli government-side).</ref>

==Political interference==
===UN voting===
Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations.

===Ehud Barak's emails===
No substantive references to Taiwan were found in the leaked emails of [[Ehud Barak]]; the hits are mainly newsletters and news alerts.

===Jeffrey Epstein===
No substantive references to Taiwan were found in the documents released by the US Department of Justice in the [[Jeffrey Epstein]] files. The hits for Taipei and Taiwan are mainly news digests and passing mentions of travel.

==See also==
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to China]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Japan]]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Zionist movement|Taiwan]]
[[Category:Taiwan]]

Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Mongolia

2026-10-21T22:27:09Z

Geography Bot: New page: Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections (East Asia B2); every reference checked

{{short description|'''Mongolia: a handful of Jews in Ulaanbaatar, diplomatic relations with "Israel" since 1991, Israeli development aid, and Ehud Barak's and Jeffrey Epstein's seats on the Mongolian president's advisory board'''}}
'''Mongolia''' has only a few Jews, most of them Israelis and other expatriates living in Ulaanbaatar, according to the [[World Jewish Congress]] (WJC).<ref name="WJCMN">World Jewish Congress, [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/MN Community in Mongolia] ''worldjewishcongress.org'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> "Israel" and Mongolia established diplomatic relations in 1991; in 2011 the Israeli foreign ministry listed Mongolia as covered by its ambassador in China.<ref name="MFA2011">Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110805075305/http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/about%20the%20ministry/diplomatic%20missions/Israel-s%20Diplomatic%20Missions%20Abroad Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations] ''mfa.gov.il'', archived 5 August 2011 (Israeli government-side).</ref> The Israeli development agency MASHAV signed an agreement in 2024 to support a Mongolian tree-planting movement.<ref name="Montsame2024">[https://www.montsame.mn/en/read/358327 Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation to Support "Billion Trees" National Movement] ''MONTSAME'', December 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> The leaked emails of [[Ehud Barak]] show him visiting Ulaanbaatar in 2013 and sitting, with [[Jeffrey Epstein]], on an advisory board for the Mongolian president from 2014.

==Jewish community and religious life==
===History and demography===
According to the [[World Jewish Congress|WJC]], Siberian Jewish merchants settled on the Mongolian side of the border at the end of the 19th century, and by 1920 a small community of Russian origin had formed in Outer Mongolia. Russian anti-Bolshevik forces deported it in 1921. A second community of Russian Jews formed from 1925 and settled in Urga (now Ulaanbaatar). Religion, including Judaism, was forbidden in the Soviet period, and many Jewish families assimilated. After the fall of the Soviet Union many Jews left, some for "Israel".<ref name="WJCMN" />

Today there are no official figures. The WJC quotes the community's leader, Sumati Luvsandendev, as saying that "there are enough fingers on two hands to count all Jews who live [in Mongolia]". All of them live in Ulaanbaatar, and Judaism is not officially recognised as a religion.<ref name="WJCMN" />

===Communal organisations===
'''Jewish Community of Mongolia''' (Монгол Улс дахь жид үндэстэн). The WJC lists it as its Mongolian affiliate; it is also affiliated with the [[Euro-Asian Jewish Congress]]. There are no rabbis in Mongolia. The community meets from time to time for the High Holidays, with support from the chief rabbi of Irkutsk in Siberia, Aharon Wagner.<ref name="WJCMN" />
:''How far is it Zionist?'' The community is affiliated with the WJC and the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. No statement by the community itself on Zionism or "Israel" was found.

===Chabad===
:''Main article: [[Chabad-Lubavitch movement]]''
There is no Chabad Bot page for Mongolia.

==Zionist groups==
'''Mongol-Jewish Cooperation.''' According to the [[World Jewish Congress|WJC]], the Mongol-Jewish Cooperation, "a Jewish interest group", was formed in 2003 "with the hopes that it would facilitate a greater interest in Israel and Judaism in the country".<ref name="WJCMN" /> No website or other record of the group was found.

==Israeli state and commercial ties==
===Diplomacy===
The Israeli foreign ministry dates the establishment of relations to September 1991. Its 2011 list of missions showed no resident embassy in Mongolia: "Israel" was represented by its ambassador in China and had an honorary consul.<ref name="MFA2011" /> Mongolia lets Israeli citizens enter without a visa.<ref name="WJCMN" /> In October 2021, marking 30 years of relations, the Mongolian foreign minister, B. Battsetseg, spoke by telephone with her Israeli counterpart, [[Yair Lapid]]; she expressed interest in co-operation in "innovation, advanced technology, agriculture, and tourism".<ref name="Montsame2021">[https://www.montsame.mn/en/read/279589 Minister of Foreign Affairs holds telephone conversation with her Israeli counterpart] ''MONTSAME'', October 2021, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

===Development aid===
On 17 December 2024 the "Billion Trees National Movement", an NGO set up to support a tree-planting campaign launched by the Mongolian president, signed a memorandum of understanding with MASHAV, the development agency of the Israeli foreign ministry. The two sides agreed to start planting trees in Ulaanbaatar in spring 2025.<ref name="Montsame2024" />

===Arms===
[[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute|SIPRI]] records no Israeli arms deliveries to Mongolia.<ref name="SIPRI">Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, [https://armstransfers.sipri.org SIPRI Arms Transfers Database] ''SIPRI'', trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.</ref>

===Trade===
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Mongolia separately in its trade tables.<ref name="CBS">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2026/fr_trade12_2025/td1.pdf Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports] ''CBS'', December 2025 issue (library copy) (Israeli government-side).</ref>

==Political interference==
===UN voting===
Mongolia voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.<ref name="UNNY2025">United Nations General Assembly, [https://www.alquds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Voting-rec-L.1-Rev.1.pdf Recorded vote on A/80/L.1/Rev.1: Endorsement of the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution], 12 September 2025 (copy hosted by ''Al-Quds Al-Arabi'').</ref>

===Ehud Barak's emails===
The following items come from the two leaked mailboxes of the former Israeli prime minister and defence minister [[Ehud Barak]] (ehbarak1@gmail.com and ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com, 2007–2016). They were hacked and leaked by [[Handala]], a group that [[Distributed Denial of Secrets]] describes as "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and were published by Distributed Denial of Secrets in August 2025. The emails carry no cryptographic signatures, and Distributed Denial of Secrets warns that material from such hack-and-leak operations may have been altered.<ref name="DDoSBarak">Distributed Denial of Secrets, [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Ehud Barak emails], 27 August 2025, with download at [https://data.ddosecrets.org/Ehud%20Barak%20emails/ data.ddosecrets.org], accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*'''Ulaanbaatar visit, 2013.''' In early 2013 the Israeli lawyer Ami Orkaby arranged a visit by Barak with the staff of Mongolia's National Security Council. In February 2013 the council told Orkaby that its secretary looked forward to the visit and asked for Barak's wishes, such as meetings with "highest government officials" and travel to the countryside; in April it sent a draft programme, which Orkaby forwarded to Nili Priell Barak for Barak's comments.<ref name="BarakMN1">Email from Ami Orkaby to Nili Priell, forwarded to Ehud Barak, "Fwd: השב: Minister Ehud Barak visit", 9 April 2013, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!47/1 (434).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Barak was in Ulaanbaatar during the Community of Democracies conference there; in May 2013 the council's staff sent him President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj's opening statement and the conference's Ulaanbaatar Declaration "held in Ulaanbaatar during your stay here".<ref name="BarakMN2">Email from the National Security Council of Mongolia to Ehud Barak, "Community of Democracies Conference material", 6 May 2013, file <code>ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com/Inbox!3/1 (29).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*'''A presentation weapon.''' In April 2013 Barak had a plaque made, "presented by Ehud Barak to" the secretary of the National Security Council of Mongolia.<ref name="BarakMN3">Email from Ehud Barak, "Re: השב: Minister Ehud Barak visit", 17 April 2013, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Sent Messages/1 (232).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> The person arranging the shipment replied that "since it involves a weapon" (כיון שמדובר בנשק) the airline needed the recipient's telephone number.<ref name="BarakMN4">Email to Ehud Barak, "תשובה: Final version of address", 18 April 2013, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!47/1 (318).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*'''Mongolia Presidential Advisory Board.''' In April 2013 Terje Rød-Larsen of the [[International Peace Institute]] (IPI) sent Barak a draft plan for an "International Advisory Team for Mongolia", with experts on financial strategy and "security and defence strategy". Barak replied that it was "a very goody idea. Thoughtful, far looking and necessary".<ref name="BarakMN5">Email from Ehud Barak to Terje Rød-Larsen, "Re: Fw:", 22 April 2013, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!47/1 (245).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> The board's first meeting with Elbegdorj was held in Davos on 24 January 2014. The IPI's list of participants named Elbegdorj, his national security and foreign policy adviser Lundeg Purevsuren, Barak, Kjell Magne Bondevik, [[Jeffrey Epstein]] ("Financier"), Kevin Rudd, [[Larry Summers]] and Rød-Larsen. Barak was to take the item on "the stability of its democracy and the regional security context".<ref name="BarakMN6">Email from the International Peace Institute, "Mongolia Advisory Board meeting - Today, 6pm (Davos time)", 24 January 2014, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!39/1 (202).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> In February 2014 the IPI sent Barak the draft minutes and asked for his bank details for his "remuneration"; his office replied that payment should go to Hyperion Ltd, "through which Mr. Barak provides his services".<ref name="BarakMN7">Email from Andrea Pfanzelter (IPI), "Mongolia draft minutes", 25 February 2014, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!38/1 (142).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="BarakMN8">Email from Nili Priell Barak to Andrea Pfanzelter (IPI), "Re: Mongolia draft minutes", 28 February 2014, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!38/1 (108).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*'''Epstein and the board.''' On 28 April 2014 Epstein wrote to Barak: "can we speak, nothing urgent. mongolia, schedule."<ref name="BarakMN9">Email from Jeffrey Epstein to Ehud Barak, 28 April 2014, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!35/1 (497).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> On 2 May he told him: "send terje the paragraph for mongolia today."<ref name="BarakMN10">Email from Jeffrey Epstein to Ehud Barak, "Re: touch Base JE", 2 May 2014, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!35/1 (351).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*'''Planned visit, 2014.''' In June and July 2014 Barak's office tried to arrange a visit to Ulaanbaatar with Rød-Larsen to meet the president during the summer festivities. The IPI wrote that a visit on 7 July had been cancelled and an alternative date had not been confirmed.<ref name="BarakMN11">Email from Nili Priell Barak to Andrea Pfanzelter (IPI), "Mongolia - urgent", 30 June 2014, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!32/1 (356).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="BarakMN12">Email from Andrea Pfanzelter (IPI) to Nili Priell Barak, "Re: visit to Mongolia", 24 July 2014, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!31/1 (366).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*'''Purevsuren's visit to "Israel", 2016.''' In January 2016 Purevsuren, by then foreign minister, wrote that he planned to visit "Israel" on 14 March. Barak's office offered to arrange meetings with political and business figures, in "agriculture, medicine, high tech etc."<ref name="BarakMN13">Email from Nili Priell Barak to Lundeg Purevsuren, "Re: Mongolia", 29 January 2016, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!2/1 (453).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

===Jeffrey Epstein===
The documents released by the US Department of Justice in the Epstein files include:
*an invitation from [[Mort Zuckerman]] to Epstein to a dinner that Zuckerman and Rød-Larsen were hosting on 23 September 2013 "in honor of Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, the President of Mongolia";<ref name="EFTA01955188">Email invitation from Mort Zuckerman to Jeffrey Epstein, "Invitation for dinner Monday 23 September, 8.30p, from Mort Zuckerman", 10 September 2013, EFTA01955188, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 10, [https://tommycarstensen.com/epstein/data/documents/set10/01955/EFTA01955188.html copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein], accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*an email of 27 October 2013 from Purevsuren thanking Epstein, on behalf of Elbegdorj, for their "interesting conversation" in New York that September and confirming the president's "personal invitation for you to visit Mongolia";<ref name="EFTA01790369">Email from Lundeg Purevsuren, forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein, "Fwd: Greetings from Mongolia", 27 October 2013, EFTA01790369, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 10, [https://tommycarstensen.com/epstein/data/documents/set10/01790/EFTA01790369.html copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein], accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*the IPI's notes of the Davos meeting of 24 January 2014, which record that Barak, Bondevik, Epstein and Rudd joined by telephone, and Summers and Rød-Larsen in person;<ref name="EFTA01188067">"Notes from Mongolia Presidential Advisory Board meeting, Davos, 24 January 2014", EFTA01188067, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 9, [https://tommycarstensen.com/epstein/data/documents/set9/01188/EFTA01188067.html copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein], accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*an email of 28 September 2015 in which Epstein listed his guests to the magician David Blaine: "white house people Ehud Barak , president of mongolia ( nice guy)".<ref name="EFTA02339646">Email exchange between Jeffrey Epstein and David Blaine, "Re: Perfect", 28 September 2015, EFTA02339646, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 11, [https://tommycarstensen.com/epstein/data/documents/set11/02339/EFTA02339646.html copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein], accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
:''Source conflict:'' the IPI's agenda email to Barak lists Barak and Epstein among participants "in-person or via conference call", while the minutes say both joined by telephone.<ref name="BarakMN6" /><ref name="EFTA01188067" />

==See also==
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to China]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Kazakhstan]]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Zionist movement|Mongolia]]
[[Category:Mongolia]]

Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to North Korea

2026-10-21T22:26:48Z

Geography Bot: New page: Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections (East Asia B2); every reference checked

{{short description|'''North Korea: no Jewish community, no relations with "Israel", the 1992–93 Israeli talks to stop North Korean missile sales to Iran, the reactor in Syria, and North Korean weapons used by Hamas'''}}
'''North Korea''' (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) has no known Jewish community and no diplomatic relations with "Israel". In 1992–93 the Israeli foreign ministry held secret talks with Pyongyang to stop North Korean missile sales to Iran; they were ended by the Israeli government.<ref name="CSM1993">Abraham Rabinovich, [https://www.csmonitor.com/1993/0719/19183.html Israeli-North Korean Fusion] ''The Christian Science Monitor'', 19 July 1993, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="Setton2007">Abraham Setton, [https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3385975,00.html A missed opportunity?] ''Ynetnews'', 9 April 2007, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> "Israel" bombed a reactor in Syria in 2007 that its intelligence described as built "through North Korea".<ref name="Guardian2018">Oliver Holmes, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/21/israel-admits-it-carried-out-2007-airstrike-on-syrian-nuclear-reactor Israel confirms it carried out 2007 airstrike on Syrian nuclear reactor] ''The Guardian'', 21 March 2018, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> South Korea's intelligence service and an Associated Press analysis say Hamas used North Korean weapons in its attack of 7 October 2023, which Pyongyang denies.<ref name="AP2023">Hyung-jin Kim, Kim Tong-hyung and Jon Gambrell (Associated Press), [https://thediplomat.com/2023/10/evidence-shows-hamas-militants-likely-used-some-north-korean-weapons-in-attack-on-israel/ Evidence Shows Hamas Militants Likely Used Some North Korean Weapons in Attack on Israel] ''The Diplomat'', 19 October 2023, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="Yonhap2024">Kim Soo-yeon, [https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240108002351315 (LEAD) S. Korea's spy agency confirms Hamas' suspected use of N. Korean weapons] ''Yonhap News Agency'', 8 January 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

==Jewish community and religious life==
No Jewish community or communal organisation in North Korea was found. The [[World Jewish Congress]] has no community page for the country.

===Chabad===
:''Main article: [[Chabad-Lubavitch movement]]''
There is no Chabad Bot page for North Korea.

==Zionist groups==
No Zionist groups in North Korea were found.

==Israeli state and commercial ties==
===Diplomacy===
"Israel" and North Korea have never had diplomatic relations.<ref name="CSM1993" /> North Korea has diplomatic relations with Palestine.<ref name="Yonhap2025">Kim Hyun-soo, [https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20250812006600315 N. Korea slams Israel's attempt to take over Gaza City as 'clear violation' of int'l law] ''Yonhap News Agency'', 12 August 2025, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

===The 1992–93 talks===
According to ''The Christian Science Monitor'', the deputy director-general of the Israeli foreign ministry, Eitan Bentsur, made a secret visit to Pyongyang in November 1992, the first direct contact between the two states. The trip grew out of dealings between two American businessmen over gold-mining investment in North Korea, and Bentsur was accompanied by Israeli geologists. "Israel" asked Pyongyang to cancel the planned sale of its new medium-range missiles to Iran and not to pass on nuclear know-how to Iran or Syria. In 1993 Bentsur met a senior North Korean official in Beijing; according to Israeli sources quoted by the paper, North Korea indicated it would cancel the sale if "Israel" mobilised $1 billion in investment in North Korean gold mines and other projects. The Israeli foreign minister, [[Shimon Peres]], was invited to Pyongyang that spring, but Washington asked him not to go after North Korea said it was leaving the Non-Proliferation Treaty.<ref name="CSM1993" />

Abraham Setton, then head of Bentsur's office, wrote in 2007 that the first North Korean approach came in September 1992, and that Peres, the prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and the Mossad approved the talks. He wrote that a draft agreement had been drawn up under which North Korea would stop supplying missiles and knowledge to Iran and Arab states in return for economic aid "to an extent that had yet to be determined", with Israeli representatives stationed at North Korean sea and airports to supervise it. According to Setton, the Mossad official [[Ephraim Halevy]] persuaded the Americans and Rabin to stop the talks, and the agreement was never signed.<ref name="Setton2007" />
:''Source conflict:'' ''The Christian Science Monitor'' gives the North Korean price as $1 billion in investment, while Setton says the amount of economic aid had not been decided.<ref name="CSM1993" /><ref name="Setton2007" />

===Military and intelligence===
'''The reactor in Syria.''' In March 2018 "Israel" confirmed that its jets had destroyed a suspected nuclear reactor at al-Kibar in Syria's Deir ez-Zor province in September 2007.<ref name="BBC2018">[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-43481803 Israel admits striking suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007] ''BBC News'', 21 March 2018, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> An Israeli intelligence report of 30 March 2007, released by the military, said that Syria had set up "a nuclear reactor for the production of plutonium, through North Korea". Syria has always denied that the site was a reactor or that it worked with North Korea to build nuclear weapons.<ref name="Guardian2018" />

'''North Korean weapons and Hamas.''' In October 2023 an Associated Press analysis of weapons seized by "Israel", together with South Korean officials and two arms experts, said that Hamas fighters had likely used North Korean F-7 rocket-propelled grenades in the 7 October attack. One expert said that many North Korean weapons have been supplied to armed groups by Iran. The Israeli military declined to say where the grenades came from, and North Korea's KCNA news agency called the claims "a groundless and false rumor" orchestrated by the United States.<ref name="AP2023" /> In January 2024 South Korea's National Intelligence Service said that its assessment was the same as a Voice of America report that Hamas had used a North Korean-made F-7 launcher.<ref name="Yonhap2024" />

===Political statements===
In April 2017 the Israeli defence minister, [[Avigdor Lieberman]], called Kim Jong-un a "madman" in an interview. The North Korean foreign ministry replied that anyone who "dares hurt the dignity of its supreme leadership" would face "merciless, thousand-fold punishment", and called "Israel" the "only illegal possessor of nukes in the Middle East, under the patronage of the U.S."<ref name="JTA2017">[https://www.jta.org/2017/04/30/israel/north-korea-leader-threatens-israel-with-merciless-punishment North Korea threatens Israel with 'merciless' punishment] ''Jewish Telegraphic Agency'', 30 April 2017, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> In August 2025 the foreign ministry called the Israeli plan to take over Gaza City "a clear act of violating international law", and urged "Israel" to "immediately stop" its attacks on Palestinians and withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip.<ref name="Yonhap2025" />

===Trade===
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list North Korea among its trade partners.<ref name="CBS">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2026/fr_trade12_2025/td1.pdf Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports] ''CBS'', December 2025 issue (library copy) (Israeli government-side).</ref>

==Political interference==
===UN voting===
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.<ref name="UNNY2025">United Nations General Assembly, [https://www.alquds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Voting-rec-L.1-Rev.1.pdf Recorded vote on A/80/L.1/Rev.1: Endorsement of the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution], 12 September 2025 (copy hosted by ''Al-Quds Al-Arabi'').</ref>

===Ehud Barak's emails===
The following items come from the two leaked mailboxes of the former Israeli prime minister and defence minister [[Ehud Barak]] (ehbarak1@gmail.com and ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com, 2007–2016). They were hacked and leaked by [[Handala]], a group that [[Distributed Denial of Secrets]] describes as "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and were published by Distributed Denial of Secrets in August 2025. The emails carry no cryptographic signatures, and Distributed Denial of Secrets warns that material from such hack-and-leak operations may have been altered.<ref name="DDoSBarak">Distributed Denial of Secrets, [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Ehud Barak emails], 27 August 2025, with download at [https://data.ddosecrets.org/Ehud%20Barak%20emails/ data.ddosecrets.org], accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*'''"NK is now a nuclear player".''' In April 2015, writing to a business contact about the Iran nuclear framework agreement, Barak said he would send "a piece of interview with Clinton 21yrs ago. He talked of North Korea but exactly the same words. NK is now a nuclear player."<ref name="BarakKP1">Email from Ehud Barak, "Re:", 6 April 2015, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!19/1 (77).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

===Jeffrey Epstein===
In March 2013 [[Jeffrey Epstein]] was sent a ''Wall Street Journal'' article by [[Edward Jay Epstein]], "How Iran Could Get The Bomb Overnight", which argued that Iran could buy nuclear warheads from North Korea. It said that North Korea had sold a nuclear reactor to Syria that "was destroyed by Israeli bombers in 2007", and cited reports that the Iranian physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh had been in North Korea for its third nuclear test.<ref name="EFTA00652454">Email to Jeffrey Epstein, "Iran's Scariest Option-- my article in WSJ tomorrow", 27 March 2013, EFTA00652454, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 9, [https://tommycarstensen.com/epstein/data/documents/set9/00652/EFTA00652454.html copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein], accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> No other substantive references to North Korea were found in the documents released by the US Department of Justice.

==See also==
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to South Korea]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to China]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Japan]]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Zionist movement|Korea, North]]
[[Category:North Korea]]

Category:Taiwan

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Geography Bot: New category for Taiwan

People and institutions associated with Taiwan.

[[Category:East Asia]]

Category:Mongolia

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People and institutions associated with Mongolia.

[[Category:East Asia]]

Category:North Korea

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Geography Bot: New category for North Korea

People and institutions associated with North Korea.

[[Category:East Asia]]

Zionist connections in South Korea

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#REDIRECT [[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to South Korea]]

Zionist connections in Japan

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#REDIRECT [[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Japan]]

Zionist connections in China

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#REDIRECT [[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to China]]

Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to South Korea

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Geography Bot: New page: Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections (East Asia B1); every reference checked

{{short description|'''South Korea: a small, largely transient Jewish community, Christian pro-Israel groups, Israeli missiles, radars and drones for the South Korean forces, the 2021 free trade agreement, and Ehud Barak's paid Seoul speech'''}}
'''South Korea''' has a small, largely transient Jewish community in Seoul, many of them members of the US forces, according to the [[World Jewish Congress]] (WJC).<ref name="WJCKR">World Jewish Congress, [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/KR Community in South Korea] ''worldjewishcongress.org'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> The [[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]] (SIPRI) records Israeli Harpy loitering munitions, Popeye and Spike missiles, Heron drones and radars for South Korean aircraft, ships and air defences. "Israel" and South Korea signed a free trade agreement in May 2021, which came into force in December 2022.<ref name="WIPOFTA">World Intellectual Property Organization, [https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/treaties/textdetails/19973 Free Trade Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Korea and the Government of Israel] ''WIPO Lex'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Christian groups held public rallies for "Israel" in Seoul after 7 October 2023. The leaked emails of [[Ehud Barak]] show him paid $90,000 to speak in Seoul in 2013.

==Jewish community and religious life==
===History and demography===
According to the [[World Jewish Congress|WJC]], the first significant Jewish presence on the Korean peninsula came with the hundreds of Jewish American soldiers who fought in the Korean War (1950–53). The community today is "essentially a transient group concentrated in Seoul", many of them soldiers and officers of the US forces, with a handful of business people and teachers. At the Yongsan Army Base, Shabbat and holiday services are led by a US Army chaplain.<ref name="WJCKR" />

===Communal organisations===
'''Jewish Community of the Republic of Korea.''' The WJC lists the Jewish Community of the Republic of Korea, based in Seoul.<ref name="WJCKR" />
:''How far is it Zionist?'' No statement by the community on Zionism or "Israel" was found.

===Chabad===
:''Main article: [[Chabad Lubavitch of Korea]]''

==Zionist groups==
'''Korea-Israel Friendship Association and Israel Forum.''' On 17 October 2023 about 500 Koreans and Israelis rallied in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, waving Israeli flags and singing "Hatikva". ''The Korea Times'' reported that the rally was organised by the Korea-Israel Friendship Foundation (named by the ''JoongAng Ilbo'' as the Korea-Israel Friendship Association) and the Israel Forum, and that the Israeli ambassador, Akiva Tor, attended.<ref name="KoreaTimes2023">[https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/society/20231017/israelis-in-korea-devastated-by-war-torn-homeland Israelis in Korea devastated by war-torn homeland] ''The Korea Times'', 17 October 2023, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> The ''JoongAng Ilbo'' described the Israel Forum as a religious organisation, and reported that the friendship association's president, the former deputy prime minister for education Hwang Woo-yea, said he supported the right of the Israeli government to protect its citizens from Hamas's "terror" and to defend itself. It quoted Tor as saying: "We are not afraid. If we must fight, we will win" (translated from the Japanese edition). A US embassy official said that the United States "will always support Israel". The paper also reported pro-Palestinian rallies in Seoul calling for an end to the bombing of Gaza.<ref name="JoongAng2023">[https://s.japanese.joins.com/JArticle/310263?sectcode=400&servcode=400 ソウルの光化門で韓国初のイスラエル支持集会…「韓国人の支持に感激」] ("Korea's first pro-Israel rally at Gwanghwamun in Seoul") ''JoongAng Ilbo'' (Japanese edition), October 2023, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

'''Korean Aliyah Headquarters.''' ''Israel National News'' reported that in late 2023 a group of South Korean Christians led by the Korean Aliyah Headquarters held a two-week vigil outside the Israeli embassy in Seoul. Their leader, who heads the Korean Aliyah Headquarters, had sent help to Israeli soldiers, and said that "Korean Christians will always be with Israel".<ref name="INN2023">[https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/381424 South Korean Communities Stand Strong with Israel] ''Israel National News'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

==Israeli state and commercial ties==
===Diplomacy===
The Israeli foreign ministry lists an embassy in Seoul, with recognition dated January 1963.<ref name="MFA2011">Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110805075305/http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/about%20the%20ministry/diplomatic%20missions/Israel-s%20Diplomatic%20Missions%20Abroad Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations] ''mfa.gov.il'', archived 5 August 2011 (Israeli government-side).</ref>

===Arms===
[[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute|SIPRI]] records the following Israeli deliveries to South Korea:<ref name="SIPRI">Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, [https://armstransfers.sipri.org SIPRI Arms Transfers Database] ''SIPRI'', trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.</ref>
*100 Harpy loitering munitions, delivered in 1998–2000;
*100 Popeye air-to-surface missiles, delivered in 2002 as part of a $100–125 million deal that included modernising F-4E combat aircraft;
*two EL/M-2080 Green Pine air-search radars, delivered in 2012 for use with Patriot missile systems;
*four SandCat Spike-NLOS missile launchers (2013) and 67 Spike-NLOS missiles for them, and 60 Spike-NLOS missiles for AW-159 helicopters (2015–16);
*60 M-2032 radars for FA-50 combat aircraft built in South Korea (2013–16), and nine of 20 ordered for TA-50 Block-2 aircraft (2023–25);
*three Heron reconnaissance drones, delivered in 2016 in a KRW 30 billion deal;
*one EL/M-2248 MF-STAR radar for the amphibious assault ship ''Marado'', delivered in 2021.
SIPRI also records an order in 2025 for four EL/W-2085 airborne early-warning radars for Global-6500 aircraft, not yet delivered.<ref name="SIPRI" />

===Trade===
The free trade agreement between "Israel" and the Republic of Korea was signed on 12 May 2021 and entered into force on 1 December 2022.<ref name="WIPOFTA" /> The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $2,773.7 million from South Korea in 2025 (2024: $2,558.5 million) and exported goods worth $1,110.7 million to it (2024: $883.7 million).<ref name="CBS">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2026/fr_trade12_2025/td1.pdf Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports] ''CBS'', December 2025 issue (library copy) (Israeli government-side).</ref>

==Political interference==
===UN voting===
The Republic of Korea voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.<ref name="UNNY2025">United Nations General Assembly, [https://www.alquds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Voting-rec-L.1-Rev.1.pdf Recorded vote on A/80/L.1/Rev.1: Endorsement of the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution], 12 September 2025 (copy hosted by ''Al-Quds Al-Arabi'').</ref>

===Ehud Barak's emails===
The following items come from the two leaked mailboxes of the former Israeli prime minister and defence minister [[Ehud Barak]] (ehbarak1@gmail.com and ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com, 2007–2016). They were hacked and leaked by [[Handala]], a group that [[Distributed Denial of Secrets]] describes as "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and were published by Distributed Denial of Secrets in August 2025. The emails carry no cryptographic signatures, and Distributed Denial of Secrets warns that material from such hack-and-leak operations may have been altered.<ref name="DDoSBarak">Distributed Denial of Secrets, [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Ehud Barak emails], 27 August 2025, with download at [https://data.ddosecrets.org/Ehud%20Barak%20emails/ data.ddosecrets.org], accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*'''Global HR Forum, 2013.''' In April 2013 the Harry Walker Agency passed on a "firm invitation" from the ''Korea Economic Daily'' for Barak to speak at its 7th Global HR Forum at the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill hotel in Seoul on 5–6 November 2013. The agency had "secured an honorarium of $90,000 plus an additional $10,000 towards airfare", plus first-class hotels and expenses for two. Barak was asked not to take part in other public, ticketed events in South Korea until 7 November.<ref name="BarakKR1">Email from Don Walker (Harry Walker Agency) to Nili Priell, forwarded to Ehud Barak, "Korea Economic Daily", 23 April 2013, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!47/1 (187).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> The agency confirmed the engagement in August 2013.<ref name="BarakKR2">Email from the Harry Walker Agency to Nili Priell Barak, forwarded to Ehud Barak, "Fwd: PM Barak Confirmed Engagements", 23 August 2013, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!44/1 (144).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Its contract also provided for an advance interview with the newspaper, whose first question was about the Israeli Yozma venture-capital fund.<ref name="BarakKR3">Email from the Harry Walker Agency to Nili Priell Barak, forwarded to Ehud Barak, "Fwd: Global HR Forum", 27–28 August 2013, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!44/1 (116).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*'''Korean venture-capital fund.''' In September 2013 the Israeli lawyer Ami Orkaby forwarded to Barak an adviser's note on a public notice by the Korea Venture Investment Corporation (KVIC) for overseas venture funds. The adviser wrote that the Korean-language notice required "a Korean or Korean-American(or Jewish) partner", and that a fund which invested in Korean companies, with the money "used to acquire Israeli technology or corporations for the globalization of investeed Korean companies", would "get strong support from Korean government".<ref name="BarakKR4">Email from Ami Orkaby to Ehud Barak, forwarded by Nili Priell Barak, "Fwd: 해외VC투자유치공고문" ("overseas VC investment notice"), 29 September 2013, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!42/1 (435).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*'''Business contacts.''' After the Seoul visit a Korean lawyer, copying Orkaby, wrote to Barak that he hoped their meeting "can lead to a good business partnership between Israel and Korea".<ref name="BarakKR5">Email to Ehud Barak, copied to Ami Orkaby, "Dear PM Ehud Barak", 11 November 2013, file <code>ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com/Inbox!2/1 (399).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

===Jeffrey Epstein===
No substantive references to South Korea were found in the documents released by the US Department of Justice in the [[Jeffrey Epstein]] files. The hits for Seoul and Korea are mainly flight records, art-auction invoices, news digests and financial papers.

==See also==
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to North Korea]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Japan]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to China]]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Zionist movement|Korea, South]]
[[Category:South Korea]]

Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Japan

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Geography Bot: New page: Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections (East Asia B1); every reference checked

{{short description|'''Japan: the Jewish Community of Japan and Christian Zionist movements, diplomatic relations since 1952, the 2014 comprehensive partnership, Itochu's withdrawal from its Elbit Systems agreement over Gaza, and Ehud Barak's emails on brokering defence sales'''}}
'''Japan''' has about 1,000 Jews, according to the [[World Jewish Congress]] (WJC), almost all of them foreigners and expatriates; they are represented by the Jewish Community of Japan.<ref name="WJCJP">World Jewish Congress, [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/JP Community in Japan] ''worldjewishcongress.org'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Japan has had diplomatic relations with "Israel" since 1952,<ref name="MFA2011">Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110805075305/http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/about%20the%20ministry/diplomatic%20missions/Israel-s%20Diplomatic%20Missions%20Abroad Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations] ''mfa.gov.il'', archived 5 August 2011 (Israeli government-side).</ref> and in 2014 Shinzo Abe and [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] agreed a "new comprehensive partnership" that included security, cyber and defence exchanges.<ref name="JointStatement2014">Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Japan-Israel Joint Statement on Building a New Comprehensive Partnership, 12 May 2014, full text in [https://panorientnews.com/en/news.php?k=2165 Full Text of Japan-Israel Joint Statement: Building a New Comprehensive Partnership] ''PanOrient News'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> The [[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]] (SIPRI) records no Israeli arms deliveries to Japan. In February 2024 the trading house Itochu ended its partnership with [[Elbit Systems]], citing the International Court of Justice's order on Gaza.<ref name="CNN2024">[https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/06/business/japanese-israel-gaza-war-itochu-hnk-intl Japanese trading giant Itochu to cut ties with Israeli defense firm over Gaza war] ''CNN'', 6 February 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Japan has several Christian movements that campaign for "Israel". The leaked emails of [[Ehud Barak]] show a Wikistrat executive asking him in 2015 to broker introductions to Japanese defence and intelligence officials for a commission.

==Jewish community and religious life==
===History and demography===
According to the [[World Jewish Congress|WJC]], Jews first came to Japan as merchants with the Dutch and British in the 16th and 17th centuries, and small communities formed in port cities such as Yokohama and Nagasaki after Japan reopened in 1854. Russian Jewish prisoners of war from the Russo-Japanese War founded a community in Kobe. In 1938 the Five Ministers Council decided not to expel Jews, despite German pressure, and in 1940 the consul in Kaunas, Chiune Sugihara, issued visas to Jewish refugees against orders from Tokyo. The community peaked during the US occupation and shrank after 1952. The demographer Sergio DellaPergola estimated 1,000 to 1,400 Jews in 2015, most of them in Tokyo, with a smaller community in Kobe.<ref name="WJCJP" />

===Communal organisations===
'''Jewish Community of Japan (JCJ).''' The JCJ is the WJC's Japanese affiliate and the community's representative body. It is also affiliated to the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, and runs a Sunday school and classes from its centre in Tokyo. The WJC also lists the Japan-Israel Women's Welfare Organization, the Japan-Israel Friendship Association and the Japanese Women's Group. Tokyo has two synagogues, including Beth David, whose rabbi serves a multinational congregation, and there is a synagogue in Kobe.<ref name="WJCJP" />
:''How far is it Zionist?'' In October 2023 the JCJ's newsletter wrote: "There is no separating the story of Japan's Jewish community and Israel. [...] Japan's Jewish community and Israel share an ironclad bond forged through decades of working together arm-in-arm." It said the community centre had hosted the Israeli prime ministers Moshe Sharett, Golda Meir and Shimon Peres and "every Israeli ambassador", and that in 1923, 40% of the proceeds from the sale of Nagasaki's Beth Israel synagogue went to organisations "helping Jews settle the Land of Israel". In the week after 7 October 2023 the community joined a rally near Shibuya Crossing and hosted a briefing by the Israeli embassy, and collected donations "to support Israel".<ref name="JCJ2023">Jewish Community of Japan, [https://jccjapan.jp/jcc-newsletter-beresheet/ JCC Newsletter - Beresheet] ''jccjapan.jp'', 13 October 2023, accessed 21 October 2026 (Jewish Community of Japan-side).</ref>

===Chabad===
:''Main article: [[Chabad Lubavitch of Japan]]''

==Zionist groups==
'''Makuya.''' The Original Gospel Makuya movement was founded in Kumamoto in May 1948 by Ikuro Teshima, who, according to the movement, "saw the same invisible hand of God" in its founding and in the creation of "Israel". From 1962 Teshima sent his students to "Israel", and in 1967 he set up the "Israel Emergency Relief Committee of Japan". In December 1973 he led a march of 3,000 people through Tokyo, where, in the movement's words, they "demonstrated their fervent love for Zion"; he died three weeks later.<ref name="Makuya">Original Gospel Makuya, [https://www.makuya.org/about-makuya/about-the-founder-of-makuya/israel-teshima/ Israel & Teshima] ''makuya.org'', 12 August 2019, accessed 21 October 2026 (Makuya-side).</ref>

'''Beit Shalom.''' Beit Shalom Japan, or Japanese Christian Friends of Israel, is a Protestant movement founded on 5 January 1946 by the pastor Takeji Otsuki. It says it has more than 100 churches across Japan and 8,000 members, and runs guest houses for Israeli visitors.<ref name="BeitShalom">Beit Shalom Japan, [https://www.beitshalomfriends.com/About About] ''beitshalomfriends.com'' (in Hebrew), accessed 21 October 2026 (Beit Shalom-side).</ref>

'''Bridges for Peace Japan.''' In July 2024 ''The Jerusalem Post'' reported that the Japanese branch of [[Bridges for Peace]] had paid for a second intensive-care ambulance for [[Magen David Adom]], costing $150,000, and hoped to pay for three more. Its director, Megumi Tabata, said that all 630 churches registered with the organisation had been praying "for Israel and for Israeli soldiers since October 7".<ref name="JPost2024">[https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-809568 Japanese Christians make significant donations to Israel] ''The Jerusalem Post'', 20 July 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

==Israeli state and commercial ties==
===Diplomacy===
The Israeli foreign ministry lists an embassy in Tokyo from January 1952 and honorary consuls in Kyushu and Osaka.<ref name="MFA2011" /> [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] visited Japan from 11 to 14 May 2014. In their joint statement, he and Abe welcomed the start of exchanges between Japan's National Security Secretariat and the Israeli National Security Council, agreed on cooperation in cyber security, affirmed "the importance of bilateral defense cooperation" and agreed to visits by officers of the Japan Self-Defense Forces to "Israel".<ref name="JointStatement2014" /><ref name="Kantei2014">Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet, [https://japan.kantei.go.jp/96_abe/actions/201405/12israel.html Japan-Israel Summit Meeting and Other Activities] ''japan.kantei.go.jp'', 12 May 2014, accessed 21 October 2026 (Japanese government-side).</ref>

At the UN conference on the two-state solution in September 2025, Japan said that "the expansion of settlement activities in the West Bank, and steps toward annexation are completely unacceptable", and that recognising a Palestinian state was "not a matter of 'if'" but of when. It said: "Should Israel take further actions that block the path to the realization of a two-state solution, Japan will be compelled to introduce new measures in response."<ref name="UNJapan2025">Government of Japan, [https://www.un.org/unispal/document/japan-statement-22sep25/ Statement at the High-level Conference on the Two-State Solution] ''United Nations'', 22 September 2025, accessed 21 October 2026 (Japanese government-side).</ref>

===Military ties===
[[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute|SIPRI]] records no deliveries of major Israeli arms to Japan.<ref name="SIPRI">Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, [https://armstransfers.sipri.org SIPRI Arms Transfers Database] ''SIPRI'', trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.</ref> In March 2023 [[Elbit Systems]] signed a memorandum of understanding with Itochu Aviation and Nippon Aircraft Supply at the DSEI Japan arms fair.<ref name="EDR2023">[https://www.edrmagazine.eu/%E2%96%BA-elbit-systems-signs-memorandum-of-understanding-with-nippon-aircraft-supply-and-itochu-aviation-at-dsei-japan Elbit Systems signs Memorandum of Understanding with Nippon Aircraft Supply and Itochu Aviation at DSEI Japan] ''EDR Magazine'', March 2023, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Itochu said the partnership had been based on "a request from the Japan's Defense Ministry for the purpose of importing defense equipment for the Self-Defense Force". After the International Court of Justice's order of January 2024 in South Africa's genocide case, and guidance from Japan's foreign ministry to respect the court's findings "in good faith", Itochu said in February 2024 that it would end the partnership. ''CNN'' reported that it had faced student protests in Tokyo and calls in Malaysia to boycott its FamilyMart chain.<ref name="CNN2024" /> Nippon Aircraft Supply said that its MOU with Elbit would end at the end of February 2024.<ref name="NAS2024">Nippon Aircraft Supply, [https://www.nasco.co.jp/information/detail/124 ELBIT社とのMOUについて] ("On the MOU with Elbit") ''nasco.co.jp'', February 2024, accessed 21 October 2026 (Nippon Aircraft Supply-side).</ref> The independent outlet Choose Life Project reported in February 2024 that the Ministry of Defence was considering Israeli-made attack drones, had set aside about ¥10 billion in its 2023 budget and was trialling five models, one of them made by Elbit.<ref name="CLP2024">[https://cl-p.jp/2024/02/27/droneisrael/ 「このドローンはイスラエル製じゃないですか！こっちは？」防衛省担当「エルビットです」] ("'Isn't this drone Israeli-made? And this one?' Defence Ministry official: 'It's Elbit'") ''Choose Life Project'', 27 February 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

===Trade===
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $952.8 million from Japan in 2025 (2024: $1,196.2 million) and exported goods worth $949.8 million to it (2024: $863.8 million).<ref name="CBS">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2026/fr_trade12_2025/td1.pdf Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports] ''CBS'', December 2025 issue (library copy) (Israeli government-side).</ref>

==History: the Lod airport attack==
On 30 May 1972 Kozo Okamoto and two other members of the Japanese Red Army opened fire at Lod Airport (now Ben Gurion Airport), killing or injuring about 100 people. ''The Asahi Shimbun'' reported that the group had been formed with the support of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Okamoto, the only surviving attacker, was sentenced to life imprisonment by an Israeli court, was later given political asylum in Lebanon and died there in July 2026.<ref name="Asahi2026">[https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/16752337 Japanese Red Army shooter Okamoto dies in Lebanon] ''The Asahi Shimbun'', 24 July 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

==Political interference==
===UN voting===
Japan voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.<ref name="UNNY2025">United Nations General Assembly, [https://www.alquds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Voting-rec-L.1-Rev.1.pdf Recorded vote on A/80/L.1/Rev.1: Endorsement of the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution], 12 September 2025 (copy hosted by ''Al-Quds Al-Arabi'').</ref>

===Ehud Barak's emails===
The following items come from the two leaked mailboxes of the former Israeli prime minister and defence minister [[Ehud Barak]] (ehbarak1@gmail.com and ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com, 2007–2016). They were hacked and leaked by [[Handala]], a group that [[Distributed Denial of Secrets]] describes as "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and were published by Distributed Denial of Secrets in August 2025. The emails carry no cryptographic signatures, and Distributed Denial of Secrets warns that material from such hack-and-leak operations may have been altered.<ref name="DDoSBarak">Distributed Denial of Secrets, [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Ehud Barak emails], 27 August 2025, with download at [https://data.ddosecrets.org/Ehud%20Barak%20emails/ data.ddosecrets.org], accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*'''Wikistrat and Japanese defence officials.''' On 4 June 2015 Joel Zamel, chief executive of the consultancy Wikistrat, wrote to Barak that he was flying to Tokyo to meet the Defense Intelligence Headquarters and had "a number of unique, multimillion dollar defense capabilities to introduce to the Japanese market". He asked whether Barak could "broker an introduction" to senior defence or intelligence officials, or someone senior in the prime minister's office, adding: "Our agreed upon 10% commission would apply, which would likely equate to $100K+." No reply was found in the mailboxes.<ref name="BarakJP1">Email from Joel Zamel to Ehud Barak, "Japan", 4 June 2015, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!15/1 (208).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

===Jeffrey Epstein===
Documents released by the US Department of Justice in the [[Jeffrey Epstein]] files name Joichi (Joi) Ito, the former director of the MIT Media Lab and since 2023 president of the Chiba Institute of Technology, in more than 8,000 documents, according to ''The Asahi Shimbun''.<ref name="Asahi2026b">[https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/16396665 Joichi Ito quits posts, denies knowing about Epstein's crimes] ''The Asahi Shimbun'', 4 March 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> In September 2019 ''The New Yorker'' reported that the lab had concealed a deeper fundraising relationship with Epstein than it had admitted, and that Epstein had been credited with securing at least $7.5 million in donations for it.<ref name="NewYorker2019">Ronan Farrow, [https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-an-elite-university-research-center-concealed-its-relationship-with-jeffrey-epstein How an Élite University Research Center Concealed Its Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein] ''The New Yorker'', 6 September 2019, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Ito resigned the next day, and MIT's president announced an independent investigation.<ref name="MITNews2019">L. Rafael Reif, [https://news.mit.edu/2019/letter-media-lab-action-0907 Letter regarding action on the Media Lab] ''MIT News'', 7 September 2019, accessed 21 October 2026 (MIT-side).</ref> In March 2026, after the Justice Department's releases, Ito announced that he would leave his advisory posts with Japan's Digital Agency and the Cabinet Office, and the company he co-founded, Digital Garage, said he would step down as senior executive vice president. He said he had never witnessed or known of any of Epstein's crimes.<ref name="Asahi2026b" /> The Chiba Institute of Technology said that its trust in him "remains unchanged".<ref name="ChibaTech2026">Chiba Institute of Technology, [https://chibatech.ac.jp/english/news/r9arg100000005hh.html Regarding Media Coverage Concerning Our University's President] ''chibatech.ac.jp'', 28 February 2026, accessed 21 October 2026 (Chiba Institute of Technology-side).</ref>

==See also==
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to China]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to South Korea]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Taiwan]]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Zionist movement|Japan]]
[[Category:Japan]]

Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to China

2026-10-21T22:09:51Z

Geography Bot: New page: Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections (East Asia B1); every reference checked

{{short description|'''China, Hong Kong and Macau: Jewish communities from Kaifeng to Shanghai and Hong Kong, Israeli arms sales and the US-blocked Phalcon and Harpy deals, Chinese ownership of Tnuva and operation of the Haifa Bayport, Cellebrite in Hong Kong, and Ehud Barak's dealings with Shanghai Alliance Investment'''}}
'''China''' has about 2,500 Jews, according to the [[World Jewish Congress]] (WJC), with no national representative body; most live in Beijing, Shanghai and Kaifeng, and Hong Kong has its own long-established community.<ref name="WJCCN">World Jewish Congress, [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/CN Community in China] ''worldjewishcongress.org'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> China and "Israel" established diplomatic relations in 1992, and in 2017 Xi Jinping and [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] announced an "innovative comprehensive partnership".<ref name="MFAChina2017">Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, [https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjb/zzjg_663340/xybfs_663590/xwlb_663592/202406/t20240606_11385648.html Xi Jinping Meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel] ''fmprc.gov.cn'', 21 March 2017, accessed 21 October 2026 (Chinese government-side).</ref> The [[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]] (SIPRI) records Israeli air-to-air missiles and loitering munitions supplied to China in the 1990s, but US pressure stopped the sale of the Phalcon early-warning system in 2000 and an upgrade of Harpy drones in 2005. The Chinese state-owned Bright Food bought control of the Israeli food group Tnuva in 2015, and Shanghai International Port Group has operated Haifa's new Bayport since 2021. The leaked emails of [[Ehud Barak]] show him negotiating a paid partnership with Shanghai Alliance Investment, a state investment company headed by Jiang Mianheng, in 2015.

==Jewish community and religious life==
===History and demography===
According to the [[World Jewish Congress|WJC]], the first Jewish settlers reached China along the Silk Road during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) and founded a community in Kaifeng. Ashkenazi Jews came to Shanghai after it opened to foreign trade in 1842. By the mid-1930s Shanghai's community consisted of about 700 descendants of Iraqi Jews and several thousand Jews who had fled Russia after 1917. Because Shanghai required no entry visas, about 17,000 Jewish refugees from Nazism found refuge there between 1933 and 1941, and in 1940–41 about 2,000 Polish Jews arrived with visas issued by the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara. After the Japanese invasion most were confined to the Hongkou district. Most Jews left after the war.<ref name="WJCCN" />

The WJC gives a current figure of about 2,500. It notes that the 2010 census gave 2,800 and that the demographer Sergio DellaPergola gave 2,500 for 2015. It describes Jewish life in China as "caught between the international, economic aspirations of a rising superpower and a ruling party intent on exercising and retaining complete authority", and says that most religious identity is "celebrated individually and privately". There are museums on Jewish history in Kaifeng, at the former Hongkou ghetto in Shanghai and in Harbin.<ref name="WJCCN" />

===Communal organisations===
The WJC says there is no formal representative body for China's Jews, but there are "small active expat groups" in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai. There are almost no independent synagogues: religious life runs through [[Chabad-Lubavitch movement|Chabad]] houses and other centres, including a Shanghai branch of the Shehebar Sephardic Center and the Shanghai Jewish Center, which has a kosher café.<ref name="WJCCN" />
:''How far are they Zionist?'' No statements on Zionism or "Israel" by these mainland groups were found.

===Chabad===
:''Main article: [[Chabad Lubavitch of China]]''

===Hong Kong and Macau===
According to the WJC, there was no settled Jewish presence in Hong Kong until it became a British colony in 1842. The Sassoon and Kadoorie families, both Sephardi dynasties, moved their businesses there, the community was founded in 1857, and Sir Matthew Nathan served as Hong Kong's first and only Jewish governor. Jews from Shanghai, Tianjin and Harbin moved to Hong Kong after the Japanese invasion of the mainland. The WJC cites ''The Times of Israel'' for a figure of about 5,000 Jews in 2019, but also DellaPergola's estimate of about 2,500 in 2015; the two figures conflict.<ref name="WJCHK">World Jewish Congress, [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/HK Community in Hong Kong] ''worldjewishcongress.org'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

'''Ohel Leah Synagogue Charity.''' The charity is the WJC's Hong Kong affiliate. It runs the Ohel Leah Synagogue (established in 1901), the Jewish Community Centre, the cemetery and the Chevra Kadisha, and handles community security and relations with the Hong Kong government. The Ohel Leah Synagogue is modern Orthodox; there are also two Sephardi Orthodox congregations, Kehilat Zion and Shuva Israel, and the United Jewish Congregation for Reform, Liberal and Conservative Jews. Other bodies include the Jewish Women's Association, the Jewish Historical Society and the Jewish Film Festival.<ref name="WJCHK" />
:''How far is it Zionist?'' No statement by the charity on Zionism was found. Its WJC affiliation is documented.

'''Carmel School Association.''' The WJC lists Carmel as one of Hong Kong's leading international schools, with a Jewish education.<ref name="WJCHK" /> The school describes itself as "an independent Jewish Day School which follows Modern Orthodox principles and has a strong commitment to Zionism".<ref name="Carmel">Carmel School Association, [https://www.carmel.edu.hk/about-us/mission Our Mission] ''carmel.edu.hk'', accessed 21 October 2026 (Carmel School-side).</ref>

'''Bnei Akiva.''' The WJC records a local chapter of the religious Zionist youth movement [[Bnei Akiva]] in Hong Kong.<ref name="WJCHK" />

====Chabad in Hong Kong====
:''Main article: [[Chabad Lubavitch of Hong Kong]]''

"Israel" and Hong Kong established formal relations in 1985, according to the WJC.<ref name="WJCHK" /> In 2011 the Israeli foreign ministry listed a consulate-general in Hong Kong, alongside the embassy in Beijing and consulates-general in Guangzhou and Shanghai.<ref name="MFA2011">Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110805075305/http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/about%20the%20ministry/diplomatic%20missions/Israel-s%20Diplomatic%20Missions%20Abroad Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations] ''mfa.gov.il'', archived 5 August 2011 (Israeli government-side).</ref> No separate Jewish communal body in Macau was found.

==Zionist groups==
'''Shavei Israel.''' ''The Forward'' describes [[Shavei Israel]], chaired by Michael Freund, as an Israeli organisation "that searches for 'lost and dispersed' Jews and often assists with immigration to Israel". It reported that Shavei Israel organised and paid for the immigration and Orthodox conversion of four descendants of Kaifeng's Jews in 2006, opened its own centre in Kaifeng in 2013 and has since organised the immigration of twelve more.<ref name="Forward2016">[https://forward.com/news/349913/who-are-the-kaifeng-jews-and-why-is-china-cracking-down-on-them/ Who Are the Kaifeng Jews — and Why Is China 'Cracking Down' on Them?] ''The Forward'', 19 September 2016, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> In February 2016 five women from Kaifeng arrived in "Israel" with Shavei Israel, which paid for their religious studies in Jerusalem and supported them through conversion, after which they would receive Israeli citizenship.<ref name="JTA2016">[https://www.jta.org/2016/02/29/global/5-young-chinese-women-arrive-in-israel-to-make-aliyah 5 young Chinese women arrive in Israel to make aliyah] ''Jewish Telegraphic Agency'', 29 February 2016, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> In September 2016 Freund wrote that Kaifeng's authorities had raided the centre during Passover 2014, ordered Hebrew signs removed, closed the site of the community's historic mikveh well and questioned community members. He said Shavei Israel had brought "some 20" Kaifeng Jews to "Israel", and he criticised the Israeli embassy in Beijing for not keeping in touch with them.<ref name="Shavei2016">Michael Freund, [https://www.shavei.org/blog/2016/09/08/michael-freund-stop-the-crackdown-on-chinas-jews/ Stop the crackdown on China's Jews] ''shavei.org'', 8 September 2016, accessed 21 October 2026 (Shavei Israel-side).</ref>
:The sources differ. ''The Forward'' gives four immigrants in 2006 and twelve more since, and dates Shavei Israel's centre to 2013;<ref name="Forward2016" /> the ''Jewish Telegraphic Agency'' reported that seven young men from Kaifeng had immigrated with Shavei Israel in October 2009;<ref name="JTA2016" /> Freund gives "some 20" and says the centre opened in 2010.<ref name="Shavei2016" />

'''Hong Kong.''' Bnei Akiva and the Carmel School (above) are the only Zionist bodies found in Hong Kong.

==Israeli state and commercial ties==
===Diplomacy===
The Israeli foreign ministry lists its relations with China as established in January 1992, with an embassy in Beijing.<ref name="MFA2011" /> On 21 March 2017, on the 25th anniversary of relations, Xi Jinping and [[Benjamin Netanyahu|Netanyahu]] announced an "innovative comprehensive partnership" in Beijing. According to the Chinese foreign ministry, Netanyahu said "Israel" would "continue to uphold the one-China policy".<ref name="MFAChina2017" />

China has also hosted Palestinian factions. On 23 July 2024 the foreign minister, Wang Yi, witnessed 14 factions, including Fatah and Hamas, sign the Beijing Declaration on ending their division. Wang said: "China never has any selfish interests on the Palestinian question. China was among the first countries to recognize the PLO and the State of Palestine."<ref name="MFAChina2024">Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, [https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/wjbzhd/202407/t20240723_11458790.html Palestinian Factions Sign Beijing Declaration on Ending Division and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity] ''mfa.gov.cn'', 23 July 2024, accessed 21 October 2026 (Chinese government-side).</ref> ''Al Jazeera'' reported that the deal raised both "hope and doubt" that the rival movements could reconcile.<ref name="AJ2024">[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/25/pressure-for-this-to-succeed-will-fatah-hamas-unity-deal-hold 'Pressure for this to succeed': Will Fatah-Hamas unity deal hold?] ''Al Jazeera'', 25 July 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

In November 2014 the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, C. Y. Leung, met the mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Ron Huldai, and encouraged Israeli technology companies to set up in Hong Kong and to use its role as a "super-connector" to the mainland.<ref name="HKGov2014">Hong Kong SAR Government, [https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201411/24/P201411240818.htm CE meets Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo of Israel] ''info.gov.hk'', 24 November 2014, accessed 21 October 2026 (Hong Kong government-side).</ref>

===Arms===
[[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute|SIPRI]] records the following Israeli deliveries to China:<ref name="SIPRI">Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, [https://armstransfers.sipri.org SIPRI Arms Transfers Database] ''SIPRI'', trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.</ref>
*about 3,000 Python-3 short-range air-to-air missiles, delivered from 1990 to 2001 and given the Chinese designation PL-8 (SIPRI notes that the number "could be much lower or higher");
*about 50 Harpy loitering munitions, delivered in 1998–99.

In July 2000, at the Camp David summit, Prime Minister [[Ehud Barak]] told [[Bill Clinton]] that "Israel" would not complete a 1996 deal to fit Phalcon airborne early-warning radars to aircraft for China. According to the Arms Control Association, US officials had argued that the system could shift the military balance in the Taiwan Strait in China's favour, and members of Congress had threatened to withhold aid to "Israel".<ref name="ACA2000">Arms Control Association, [https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2000-09/press-releases/israel-halts-chinese-phalcon-deal Israel Halts Chinese Phalcon Deal] ''Arms Control Today'', September 2000, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> In 2005, under the government of [[Ariel Sharon]], "Israel" froze a contract to upgrade China's Harpy drones after the US accused it of misleading Washington. ''The Guardian'' reported that the US had imposed sanctions, including removing "Israel" from the development of the F-35, and that "Israel" agreed to let the US examine its defence exports. It said "Israel" had paid "substantial compensation" for cancelling the Phalcon deal.<ref name="Guardian2005">[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jun/27/china.israel Israel scraps arms deal with China] ''The Guardian'', 27 June 2005, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

===Surveillance===
''MIT Technology Review'' reported in 2020 that Hong Kong police court filings showed that phone-hacking technology from the Israeli company [[Cellebrite]] had been used to break into 4,000 phones, including that of the pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong.<ref name="MITTR2020">[https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/25/1007617/israeli-phone-hacking-company-faces-court-fight-over-sales-to-hong-kong/ Israeli phone hacking company faces court fight over sales to Hong Kong] ''MIT Technology Review'', 25 August 2020, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> The Israeli lawyer Eitay Mack and some 60 activists petitioned the Tel Aviv District Court to make the Ministry of Defence stop Cellebrite's exports to Hong Kong.<ref name="CTech2020">[https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3847631,00.html Rights activist petition court to block Cellebrite export of spy tools to Hong Kong] ''CTech'', 2 September 2020, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> On 7 October 2020 Cellebrite announced that it would stop selling to customers in Hong Kong and China, citing "a change in U.S. regulations".<ref name="Cellebrite2020">Cellebrite, [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cellebrite-to-stop-selling-its-digital-intelligence-offerings-in-hong-kong--china-301147510.html Cellebrite to Stop Selling Its Digital Intelligence Offerings In Hong Kong & China] ''PR Newswire'', 7 October 2020, accessed 21 October 2026 (Cellebrite-side).</ref>

===Companies and investment===
'''Tnuva.''' In March 2015 the Chinese state-owned Bright Food completed its purchase of control of the Israeli food group Tnuva, paying NIS 4.78 billion to Apax Partners and Mivtach Shamir for their stakes of 56.15% and 20.7%.<ref name="Globes2015">[https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-bright-food-finally-completes-acquisition-of-tnuva-1001024105 Bright Food finally completes acquisition of Tnuva] ''Globes'', 30 March 2015, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> The law firm that acted for Bright Food called it "the largest investment to date by a Chinese company in Israel".<ref name="FBC2015">FISCHER (FBC & Co.), [https://www.fbclawyers.com/news/sale-of-control-stake-in-tnuva-to-bright-food-completed/ Sale of Control Stake in Tnuva to Bright Food Completed] ''fbclawyers.com'', accessed 21 October 2026 (FBC & Co.-side; the firm acted for Bright Food).</ref>

'''Haifa Bayport.''' Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) operates Haifa's new Bayport, which opened on 1 September 2021. SIPG described it as "the first time Chinese enterprises export advanced technology and management experience about smart ports to a developed country as part of its Belt and Road initiative".<ref name="SIPG2021">Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., [https://en.portshanghai.com.cn/LatestNews/2110.jhtml SIPG Haifa Bayport Terminal in Northern Isreal Starts Operation] ''portshanghai.com.cn'', 10 September 2021, accessed 21 October 2026 (SIPG-side).</ref>

'''Investment screening.''' In October 2019, after a visit by the US Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, "Israel"'s security cabinet set up an advisory committee to assess the national-security aspects of foreign investments. Reuters, as carried by the ''Algemeiner'', reported that this followed US pressure over business deals with China, and that a US official had warned "Israel" in January 2019 that allies might limit intelligence-sharing.<ref name="Algemeiner2019">[https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/10/31/with-eye-to-china-israel-forms-panel-to-vet-foreign-investments/ With Eye to China, Israel Forms Panel to Vet Foreign Investments] ''Algemeiner'', 31 October 2019, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

'''Chinese construction workers.''' In April 2017 "Israel" signed an agreement with China to bring in 6,000 construction workers, after accepting China's demand that they not work in West Bank settlements or East Jerusalem. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said: "We oppose building Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories including East Jerusalem and West Bank."<ref name="JTA2017">[https://www.jta.org/2017/04/24/israel/israel-signs-deal-for-6000-chinese-workers-but-they-cant-work-in-settlements Israel signs deal for 6,000 Chinese workers - but they can't work in settlements] ''Jewish Telegraphic Agency'', 24 April 2017, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

===Trade===
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $14,736.4 million from China in 2025 (2024: $13,529.1 million) and exported goods worth $2,812.3 million to it (2024: $2,831.4 million). It lists Hong Kong separately: imports of $3,121.2 million (2024: $2,848.8 million) and exports of $2,009.3 million (2024: $1,984.7 million).<ref name="CBS">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2026/fr_trade12_2025/td1.pdf Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports] ''CBS'', December 2025 issue (library copy) (Israeli government-side).</ref>

==Migration and aliyah==
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics counts immigrants born in China as follows:
*504 in 1948–51;
*217 in 1952–60;
*96 in 1961–71;
*43 in 1972–79;
*78 in the 1980s;
*255 in the 1990s;
*226 in 2000–2020;
*18 in 2021;
*18 in 2022;
*13 in 2023.<ref name="CBSAliyah">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2024/2.ShnatonPopulation/st02_55.pdf Statistical Abstract of Israel 2024, Table 2.55: Immigrants, by period of immigration, country of birth and last country of residence] ''CBS'', 2024 (Israeli government-side).</ref>

==Political interference==
===UN voting===
China voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.<ref name="UNNY2025">United Nations General Assembly, [https://www.alquds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Voting-rec-L.1-Rev.1.pdf Recorded vote on A/80/L.1/Rev.1: Endorsement of the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution], 12 September 2025 (copy hosted by ''Al-Quds Al-Arabi'').</ref>

===Ehud Barak's emails===
The following items come from the two leaked mailboxes of the former Israeli prime minister and defence minister [[Ehud Barak]] (ehbarak1@gmail.com and ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com, 2007–2016). They were hacked and leaked by [[Handala]], a group that [[Distributed Denial of Secrets]] describes as "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and were published by Distributed Denial of Secrets in August 2025. The emails carry no cryptographic signatures, and Distributed Denial of Secrets warns that material from such hack-and-leak operations may have been altered.<ref name="DDoSBarak">Distributed Denial of Secrets, [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Ehud Barak emails], 27 August 2025, with download at [https://data.ddosecrets.org/Ehud%20Barak%20emails/ data.ddosecrets.org], accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*'''Shanghai Alliance Investment.''' Barak's main Chinese contact in 2014–15 was Jiang Mianheng, the son of the former president Jiang Zemin.<ref name="SCMP2014">[https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1432843/jiang-zemins-son-named-head-new-shanghaitech-university Jiang Zemin's son named head of new ShanghaiTech University] ''South China Morning Post'', 22 February 2014, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> ''Quartz'' described him in 2014 as CEO of Shanghai Alliance Investment Ltd (SAIL), "a state investment company that operates similarly to a private equity firm".<ref name="Quartz2014">[https://qz.com/197929/chinas-princelings-are-taking-over-its-private-equity-industry China's princelings are taking over its private equity industry] ''Quartz'', 11 April 2014, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> In October 2014 Jiang told Barak's office that he would bring a colleague "who has been our contact person working with TEVA".<ref name="BarakCN1">Email from Jiang Mianheng to Nili Priell Barak, forwarded to Ehud Barak, "Fwd: 答复: Letter from Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak", 10 October 2014, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!28/1 (276).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> On 19 January 2015 Barak and Professor Benad Goldwasser met Jiang at SAIL's headquarters in Shanghai, on a programme that included visits to United Imaging and a Shanghai hospital.<ref name="BarakCN2">Email from Jiang Mianheng to Nili Priell Barak and Ehud Barak, "答复: Agenda of your visit", 16 January 2015, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!23/1 (195).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Afterwards Jiang wrote that he hoped "to further our conversation on the topic of collaboration between our two nations".<ref name="BarakCN3">Email from Jiang Mianheng to Nili Priell Barak, forwarded to Ehud Barak, "Fwd: letter from Former PM Barak", 23 January 2015, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!23/1 (11).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*'''SAIL delegation and MOU.''' In May 2015 Barak wrote to Jiang that "We tried to introduce the delegation to IL companies which are really promising", after a SAIL delegation's visit to "Israel", and arranged to meet him in Shanghai on 29 May.<ref name="BarakCN4">Email thread between Ehud Barak and Jiang Mianheng, "Touch Base MJ", 19–29 May 2015, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!15/1 (375).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Before the meeting Goldwasser sent a draft memorandum of understanding to Robert Lawrence Kuhn, who, according to a biography sent to Barak's office, "advises and works with China senior leaders on special projects".<ref name="BarakCN7">Email thread, "Re: Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn - bio", 3 March 2015, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!21/1 (146).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> He wrote that SAIL had asked for it, that the management fee would be "according to budget", and that "we will receive an upside in future JV's and/or investments". Kuhn advised Barak to discuss the principles first and send the MOU later.<ref name="BarakCN5">Email thread between Benad Goldwasser and Robert Lawrence Kuhn, copied to Ehud Barak, "Re: MOU with SAIL", 28–29 May 2015, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!15/1 (367).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*'''"Strange or innocent?"''' In December 2015 a SAIL official forwarded to Goldwasser an invitation to a China–Israel summit in Beijing for "100 Israeli technology companies", adding: "We will certainly not go to the meeting. But it seems that there are more activities between Israel and China". Goldwasser forwarded it to Barak, asking: "Strange or innocent? Are they trying to tell us something like don't ask too much as there are other opportunities".<ref name="BarakCN6">Email from Benad Goldwasser to Ehud Barak, "Fwd: 100 Israeli companies coming to Beijing to meet Chinese investors, companies and governments", 11 December 2015, file <code>ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!5/1 (235).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*'''Hong Kong.''' In August 2014 Ronnie Chan of Hang Lung Properties, global co-chair of the Asia Society, wrote to Barak that the Chief Executive, C. Y. Leung, had an "interest in visiting Israel" and would meet him. Chan wrote: "I am very concerned over the negative press in the West regarding Israel. In recent weeks, a particular local Chinese newspaper began attacking your country. I have written a letter to rebut."<ref name="BarakHK1">Email from Ronnie Chan to Ehud Barak, "Meeting with the Chief Executive of HKSAR", 5 August 2014, file <code>ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com/Inbox!2/1 (152).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Barak replied: "Thanks for all that you are doing to enable us with better understanding of China."<ref name="BarakHK2">Email from Ehud Barak to Ronnie Chan, "Re: Meeting with the Chief Executive of HKSAR", 16 August 2014, file <code>ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com/Inbox!2/1 (136).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Hang Lung staff later arranged a meeting at Leung's office on 10 October 2014, and Barak agreed to the usual short press release.<ref name="BarakHK3">Email exchange between Hang Lung staff and Ehud Barak, "Meeting with CE of Hong Kong", 29 September 2014, file <code>ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com/Inbox!2/1 (1).html</code>, ''Ehud Barak emails'', [https://ddosecrets.org/article/ehud-barak-emails Distributed Denial of Secrets], released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

===Jeffrey Epstein===
Documents released by the US Department of Justice in the [[Jeffrey Epstein]] files mention China and Hong Kong many thousands of times, mostly in news digests and financial papers. They include the following:
*In September 2009 the businessman David Stern wrote to Epstein that the Israeli billionaire [[Idan Ofer]] had "cornerstoned my China focused fund with US$50m before the crisis hit and pulled out", and suggested that Ofer's financial problems at the shipping group ZIM "can be of interest to us for financing".<ref name="EFTA00770578">Email from David Stern to Jeffrey Epstein, "ZIM - Israel", 26 September 2009, EFTA00770578, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 9, [https://tommycarstensen.com/epstein/data/documents/set9/00770/EFTA00770578.html copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein], accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*In January 2011 Epstein asked the British politician [[Peter Mandelson]] about a third person. The reply, whose sender is redacted, said that the man was "trying to recruit me to Li Ka Shing deal" and asked: "Know him ?"<ref name="EFTA00690080">Email from Peter Mandelson to Jeffrey Epstein, 20 January 2011, EFTA00690080, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 9, [https://tommycarstensen.com/epstein/data/documents/set9/00690/EFTA00690080.html copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein], accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>
*In March 2014 Stern forwarded to Epstein an article from ''Tablet'', "The Chinese Believe That the Jews Control America. Is That a Good Thing?", about the Institute of Jewish and Israel Studies at Nanjing University.<ref name="EFTA01196458">Email from David Stern to Jeffrey Epstein, "Fwd: Tablet 27.03.2014", 27 March 2014, EFTA01196458, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 9, [https://tommycarstensen.com/epstein/data/documents/set9/01196/EFTA01196458.html copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein], accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Taiwan]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Japan]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Mongolia]]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Zionist movement|China]]
[[Category:China]]
[[Category:Hong Kong|China]]

Category:South Korea

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Geography Bot: New category for South Korea

People and institutions associated with South Korea.

[[Category:East Asia]]

Category:China

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Geography Bot: New category for China

People and institutions associated with China.

[[Category:East Asia]]

Category:Japan

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Geography Bot: Add to :Category:East Asia

People and institutions associated with Japan.

[[Category:East Asia]]

Category:East Asia

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Geography Bot: New category for East Asia

People and institutions associated with East Asia.

Category:Uzbekistan

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