My fieldwork in the region led me to a clear conclusion: The future of Israel\u2019s national security lies in the Indo-Pacific. Israel\u2019s middle-power strength and strategic autonomy will be shaped decisively through engagement with the region. SIGNAL Group serves today as Israel\u2019s policy partner in advancing this strategy, deepening strategic ties through Track II diplomacy.<\/p>\n
For decades, Jewish philanthropy has played a decisive role in strengthening Israel, often operating in advance of formal policy and with greater flexibility than governments can sustain.<\/p>\n
For decades, American Jewish philanthropists have had a natural inclination toward diplomacy and engagement with Europe. This makes sense \u2013 much of America\u2019s modern Jewish history and collective psyche is rooted there. But Israel\u2019s future is not. Israel\u2019s future, in fact, will be shaped in the Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n
Jewish philanthropy has always been forward-looking, focused on Israel\u2019s coming challenges and where it can have lasting impact. At moments of structural change, philanthropy has repeatedly provided the vision, foresight, risk tolerance, and continuity that bureaucratic systems struggle to deliver. We are living through such a moment now.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s national security interests are increasingly being shaped in the Indo-Pacific. China\u2019s rise, the growing influence of regional middle powers, mounting defense needs in the East, and political and economic volatility in the West are reshaping the global order. Decisions taken in and about Asia increasingly affect the Jewish state\u2019s defense posture, strategic autonomy, and freedom to operate. At the same time, they create opportunities for Israel to shape outcomes that matter most to its security.<\/p>\n
Managing China ties<\/p>\n
This is a matter of strategic necessity.<\/p>\n
When I began direct China-Israel engagement in 2010, Israel was already behind. Many countries had spent decades building institutional depth with Beijing. Jerusalem had fewer than two decades of diplomatic ties and little strategic breadth. Chinese officials and academics were curious about Israel, but they lacked context for our region, our security dilemmas, and our strategic constraints.<\/p>\n
At the time, Beijing spoke the language of openness, innovation, and stability. Engagement was framed as largely apolitical and mutually beneficial. That landscape has changed. By 2021, China had become more centralized, more assertive, and more willing to apply pressure. At the same time, the Western political and economic order began showing deeper signs of fragility. European governments grew more constrained and unpredictable. American support, while still indispensable, became increasingly shaped by domestic politics and shifting priorities.<\/p>\n
The implication for Israel was unavoidable. China is no longer a country with which it can simply seek better relations; it is a country whose relationship must be managed.<\/p>\n
PRESIDENT OF CHINA Xi Jinping reviews troops during a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of World War II\u2019s end, in Beijing, Sept. 3, 2025. (credit: TINGSHU WANG\/REUTERS)<\/p>\n
Managing that relationship requires capabilities and agility that governments often lack. Expertise is siloed by design and fragmented by geography and bureaucracy. In Israel, there is no integrated institutional understanding of China across ministries. Yet, in the Indo-Pacific, it is impossible to engage India without understanding China, or to work with Japan without grasping how China shapes its security environment.<\/p>\n
This is where Track II diplomacy becomes indispensable.<\/p>\n
At SIGNAL Group, we bring integrated, multidisciplinary expertise into every engagement. Discussions focused on India are informed by China expertise; experience across India<\/a> and China shapes engagements with Japan. We track the Indo-Pacific as an interconnected system and understand how developments across the region intersect with Israel\u2019s interests. That cross-pollinated awareness does not exist inside government.<\/p>\n Strategic autonomy<\/p>\n Equally important is freedom of action. Track II platforms foster relationships, conversations, and strategic signaling that governments often cannot pursue openly or consistently. They allow Israel to build resilient relationships quietly, credibly, and over time.<\/p>\n That resilience goes to the heart of the Jewish state\u2019s national security.<\/p>\n If Israel’s primary challenge is physical security, then security today also depends on strategic autonomy. The era in which Jerusalem could assume open-ended American military support without political or operational constraints is fading. This does not mean abandoning alliances. It does mean recognizing that Jewish responsibility for Israel\u2019s security cannot be outsourced indefinitely, much less to any single country or region.<\/p>\n The Indo-Pacific is central to that preparation.<\/p>\n