On Saturday, an attack drone launched by Iran-backed Houthi guerrillas in Yemen struck a commercial tanker in the Red Sea, and another drone—thought to have been launched from Iran itself—hit a chemical tanker off the Indian coast. Both ships’ crews, none of whom were injured, were made up mostly of Indian citizens. India has since dispatched several naval vessels to protect its sea lanes. Meanwhile, there was an explosion near the Israeli embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday. These events suggest that, despite its history of cordial relations with Iran, the world’s largest democracy has reason to see Tehran’s regional aggression as a threat to its own security. And this is happening at a time when Israel and India have been growing closer.

Yeshaya Rosenman observes that Indian popular opinion is moving in the same direction:

Never before October 8 had Israel been flooded with so many Indian reporters. Of the few thousand foreign journalists who rushed to Israel to cover the war, over a hundred arrived from India, including many of the most famous faces of Indian media. . . . Even more unusual than the sheer magnitude of Indian-focused coverage is the fact that Indian media were staunchly supportive of Israel.

Indian Muslims number an estimated 200 million, roughly 15 percent of the 1.4 billion Indians. The majority are not radical. . . . However, the October 28 televised speech of the Hamas leader, Khaled Mashal, to a Jamaat-e-Islami (India’s Muslim Brotherhood) rally was an alarming development. The rally was part of a campaign titled “Uproot Hindutva and Apartheid Zionism.” Hindutva, the ideology of Hindu nationalists—here just a code word for Hindus—was equated with Zionism by Muslim Brotherhood leaders in a candid attempt to export Hamas ideology and methods to India.

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.”