Washington's Mess in Israel Makes Room for Beijing

Written by Anthony Constantini

What’s happening: America’s failure of peacekeeping in the Middle East — considering it funds both sides of the Israel-Hamas war — has made Washington more unpopular in the region than ever before. This means new opportunities for China to expand into the region.

• The details: In a move that would have been almost unimaginable a decade ago, President Joe Biden was recently disinvited from a now-canceled Arab summit in Jordan. Jordan’s faith in America playing a peacekeeping role is practically gone.

Enter Beijing: China sees an opportunity to further present itself as an honest peace broker. Washington sees it, too, even asking China to help address the conflict. Chinese President Xi Jinping is willing to go as far as working directly with regional governments to end the fighting.

• America has failed to win over countries such as Egypt and Jordan, even though many are allies and relyheavily on American funding.

• Zoom out: China, historically pro-Palestinian, has steadily increased its influence around the globe, including in the Middle East. In March, it helped restore ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Russia wins, too: Moscow benefits from having media and governmental attention on something other than its war with Ukraine. Plus, Russian President Vladimir Putin is already using it to portray America as a sower of chaos in the Middle East, blaming it for Israel’s war.