After North Vietnam invaded and dismantled their country in 1975, hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese fled—often on rickety or unseaworthy vessels. Israel opened its doors to a number of them, many of whom still live there with their descendants. Avi Kumar writes:

From 1977 to 1979, Menachem Begin permitted entry to around 360 of the so-called Vietnamese “boat people,” in the aftermath of the Communist takeover of the Southeast Asian nation. At the time, Begin justified his actions by citing parallels with Jews struggling to find refuge during the Holocaust. Of those granted asylum in Israel, most settled around Jaffa and Bat Yam; the community is today estimated to number around 150 to 200.

Tongi Noyan, twenty-eight, [the child of two such refugees], works as a real-estate broker in Tel Aviv. He speaks perfect Hebrew, with no accent, and a casual observer might initially assume—given his Asian appearance—that he is a Jew from some far-flung corner of the Diaspora. Or perhaps a recent convert.

The Noyan family opened a Chinese restaurant in Herzliya in 1985, called Asia. After more than three decades in business, it closed in 2020 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tongi has fond memories of helping out after school, as a child. During the Chinese New Year, they made Vietnamese dishes due to popular demand, including pho soup, banh bao (dumplings), and Vietnamese spring rolls. Tongi also recalls how American Jews would follow the same tradition they had back home and go out for Chinese food on Christmas Day.

While noting that many members of the community have since left Israel for the United States, France, or other countries, including Vietnam, to him the Jewish state is home. “Of course, I’m a true Israeli. I love surfing in the morning, I speak Hebrew, I was born and raised here,” he said.

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.