Two days ago, Jerusalem announced that it will not be able to arrange the hoped-for direct flights to Saudi Arabia for Israeli Muslim pilgrims wishing to travel to Mecca for the hajj. This was but one of several recent news stories suggesting that formal diplomatic relations between the two countries will not emerge any time soon. Nonetheless, Robert Silverman sees a way forward:

[A]chieving Saudi-Israel normalization will take years of positive contact between Israelis and Saudis in order to counteract decades of demonization. Saudi institutions have drawn on the negative portrayals of Jews found in their religious tradition—ignoring positive portrayals that also exist.

The good news for eventual Saudi Arabia-Israel normalization is the potential synergy between the two countries’ economies (the largest and fourth-largest in the Middle East, respectively). That synergy—between Saudi finance and planning and Israeli technology and entrepreneurship—offers potential common ground on a positive agenda. The best thing that the U.S. government can do is to let Saudi and Israeli businesspeople explore the synergy without interference, encouraging the Saudi side and, where needed, providing seed capital for joint ventures.

Americans should have learned by now (after Bill Clinton’s Camp David summit in 2000 and John Kerry’s peace initiative in 2014, among others) that attempts to force the Middle East onto a U.S. presidential four-year cycle often ends in failure or worse, as in the second intifada.

If Saudi Arabia and Israel allow business ties, businesspeople will find each other and make deals. With business comes employment and familiarity with products and people. Over time, the portrayal of Jews in Saudi society will become more diverse, with positive remembrances of Jewish-Muslim interactions emerging from a long shared history. We should have the strategic patience to let this process take its time, at a Middle Eastern pace.

On Tuesday, representatives of Hamas met with their counterparts from Fatah—the faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) once led by Yasir Arafat that now governs parts of the West Bank—in Beijing to discuss possible reconciliation. While it is unlikely that these talks will yield any more progress than the many previous rounds, they constitute a significant step in China’s increasing attempts to involve itself in the Middle East on the side of Israel’s enemies.

By contrast, writes Tuvia Gering, Taiwan has been quick and consistent in its condemnations of Hamas and Iran and its expressions of sympathy with Israel:

Support from Taipei goes beyond words. Taiwan’s appointee in Tel Aviv and de-facto ambassador, Abby Lee, has been busy aiding hostage families, adopting the most affected kibbutzim in southern Israel, and volunteering with farmers. Taiwan recently pledged more than half a million dollars to Israel for critical initiatives, including medical and communications supplies for local municipalities. This follows earlier aid from Taiwan to an organization helping Israeli soldiers and families immediately after the October 7 attack.

The reasons why are not hard to fathom:

In many ways, Taiwan sees a reflection of itself in Israel—two vibrant democracies facing threats from hostile neighbors. Both nations wield substantial economic and technological prowess, and both heavily depend on U.S. military exports and diplomacy. Taipei also sees Israel as a “role model” for what Taiwan should aspire to be, citing its unwavering determination and capabilities to defend itself.

On a deeper level, Taiwanese leaders seem to view Israel’s war with Hamas and Iran as an extension of a greater struggle between democracy and autocracy.

Gering urges Israel to reciprocate these expressions of friendship and to take into account that “China has been going above and beyond to demonize the Jewish state in international forums.” Above all, he writes, Jerusalem should “take a firmer stance against China’s support for Hamas and Iran-backed terrorism, exposing the hypocrisy and repression that underpin its vision for a new global order.”