A pro-Western country that enjoys good relations with the Jewish state, Georgia—which regained its independence after the collapse of the USSR in 1991—was one of the very first countries to become Christian. It was also home to a historic Jewish community, and a few thousand Jews still live there. Moreover, the Georgian Church has its own ties to the Land of Israel. Lazar Berman writes:

Jerusalem is famous for its Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Armenian shrines, and today there is not a single Georgian church to be found in all of Israel. But for hundreds of years, Georgians were a ubiquitous, even dominant force among Christians in the Holy Land. Georgian monks and princes built dozens of churches, and held some of Christianity’s most sacred sites.

As Georgia’s political power waned, its grip on Holy Land shrines slipped, and by the Ottoman era, all its monasteries and churches were in the hands of more powerful communities. Ancient Georgian inscriptions and frescoes were neglected and even vandalized, a process that continued into modern times.

The heart of the Georgian presence in Jerusalem was the Monastery of the Cross, which sits today in the valley beneath the Israel Museum and the Knesset. As Georgian tradition has it, King Mirian III, [who first made Christianity the country’s official religion], purchased the land in the 4th century, and a 5th-century ruler founded the first monastery on the site. . . . According to written sources, [however], the current fortress-like monastery was built by a Georgian monk named Prochore in the 11th century after the earlier structure was torn down in the Arab conquest of Palestine

Georgian Jews began moving to Palestine in the middle of the 19th century, primarily near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. According to a 1915 census, more than 6 percent of the Jews in Jerusalem and almost a quarter of the Jews in the Old City were Georgian. They were forced to flee their homes for good during the 1929 Arab riots.

For more than a year, the Iran-backed Houthis have been launching drones and missiles at ships traversing the Red Sea, as well as at Israeli territory, in support of Hamas. This development has drastically curtailed shipping through the Suez Canal and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, driving up trade prices. This week, the Trump administration began an extensive bombing campaign against the Houthis in an effort to reopen that crucial waterway. Burcu Ozcelik highlights another benefit of this action:

The administration has a broader geopolitical agenda—one that includes countering China’s economic leverage, particularly Beijing’s reliance on Iranian oil. By targeting the Houthis, the United States is not only safeguarding vital shipping lanes but also exerting pressure on the Iran-China energy nexus, a key component of Beijing’s strategic posture in the region.

China was the primary destination for up to 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports in 2024, underscoring the deepening economic ties between Beijing and Tehran despite U.S. sanctions. By helping fill Iranian coffers, China aids Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in financing proxies like the Houthis. Since October of last year, notable U.S. Treasury announcements have revealed covert links between China and the Houthis.

Striking the Houthis could trigger broader repercussions—not least by disrupting the flow of Iranian oil to China. While difficult to confirm, it is conceivable and has been reported, that the Houthis may have received financial or other forms of compensation from China (such as Chinese-made military components) in exchange for allowing freedom of passage for China-affiliated vessels in the Red Sea.