Last month, the Israeli defense minister Benny Gantz visited Japan, where he and his counterparts concluded an agreement concerning security cooperation between the countries. The agreement is an outgrowth of the policies of the late prime minister Shinzo Abe, who cultivated warmer and more robust ties with the Jewish state as part of a more general reorientation of Tokyo’s foreign policy. Eyal Ben-Ari comments:

While bilateral meetings regarding trade have been regularly carried out for the past decade, the defense agreement was a significant boost in terms of cooperation in the national-security area.

The signing of the Abraham Accords, which were the initiative of Benjamin Netanyahu, further expanded the commercial ties between the countries. . . . This development means that today fully 15 percent of all foreign investment in Israeli technology is by Japanese enterprises.

Security ties with Israel are related to the accelerated reinforcement of Japan’s defense capabilities and its more assertive foreign relations during the past decade and a half. The exchange with Israel is especially important given Japan’s strategic considerations in the wake of the war in Ukraine. The war has further accelerated the country’s emphasis on beefing up its security in view of the nuclear threat from North Korea and, more important, an increasingly aggressive China.

The Middle East is crucial, moreover, to Japan’s continued prosperity and economic development, being the site of oil reserves and sitting astride major shipping lanes. . . . Here the interests of Japan and Israel coincide.

After several weeks of passionate political conflict in Israel over judical reform, the tensions seem to be defused, or at least dialed down, for the time being. In light of this, and in anticipation of the Passover holiday soon upon us, Eric Cohen considers the way forward for both the Jewish state and the Jewish people. (Video, 8 minutes. A text is available at the link below.)