Ever since the current Israeli government took office five months after the Biden administration entered the White House, the United States and China have been locked in a commercial and strategic conflict with important implications for Israel.

Inevitably, Washington has expected Jerusalem to align its policies with its own, for instance pressuring Israel because of its commercial and technological ties with China. While the current government has made certain policy changes, it remains unclear whether they meet US expectations in terms of scope or speed.

The issue was raised in the recent meetings between senior officials from both countries, including during Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Aug. 27 visit to Washington and his meeting there with President Joe Biden. It came up again during Foreign Minister Yair Lapid’s visit to in mid-October, though the issue wasn’t mentioned in any summaries of his meetings there.

The dilemma lies in Israel's increasing trade with China and Beijing’s enormous investments in Israeli infrastructure projects. At a press briefing this week, Lapid noted that while China is Israel’s third-largest trading partner, strengthening ties with the United States is his ministry’s foremost strategic objective.