An Israeli parliamentary delegation, led by MK Yuval Rotem, visited Taiwan from April 12 to 16, 2023, strengthening ties between the two countries. It is the second Israeli parliamentary delegation to visit Taiwan within a year, following a previous visit in May 2022.
During their visit, the delegation met with President Tsai Ing-wen, who emphasized the close bilateral interactions between Taiwan and Israel. She also expressed appreciation for Taiwan’s support after the attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2022, and Iran’s recent missile attack.
The delegation also visited the Southern Taiwan Science Park and the green energy demonstration site in Tainan. They discussed areas of cooperation in technology, innovation, and defense, as Taiwan seeks to learn from Israel’s expertise in these fields.
In a meeting with President Tsai, MK Rotem expressed gratitude for Taiwan’s support and said that Israel would always remember it. He also stated that the two countries have much in common as small but strong democracies in a harsh environment and that Israel is committed to strengthening their friendship.
The visit underscores the growing ties between Taiwan and Israel. The two countries have signed 33 agreements over the past 30 years to enhance exchanges in education, public health, and other areas. They have also established a tourism agreement and a Taiwan-Israel parliamentary friendship group.
However, the visit faced some backlash from the Taiwanese public, with protesters gathering outside the Legislative Yuan to denounce Taiwan’s meeting with the Israelis and called on Taiwanese legislators involved in the Taiwan-Israel parliamentary friendship group to address the situation in Gaza.
Despite the protests, Taiwan has expressed solidarity with Israel following Iran’s missile attack and condemned the war in Gaza. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the attack “seriously damaged global peace and stability”.
Taiwan has also expressed interest in expanding ties with Israel on technology and innovation, as well as on defense. However, there has been little action on unofficial defense cooperation. Analysts say that Israel’s preoccupation with the war and the sensitivity of security ties are factors, as well as the vagueness of plans on Taiwan’s side.
Taiwan says it wants to learn more from Israeli cyber, intelligence, and reserve mobilization, but there is no concrete understanding of how they will do it and how they will adapt it to the Taiwanese context.
