{"id":247458,"date":"2023-11-06T12:01:05","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T12:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=247458"},"modified":"2023-11-02T08:39:38","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T08:39:38","slug":"japan-g-7-on-different-pages-regarding-middle-east-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/11\/japan-g-7-on-different-pages-regarding-middle-east-conflict\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan, G-7 on Different Pages Regarding Middle East Conflict"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Japan Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo on 21 Oct 2023
(Provided by the Foreign Ministry)<\/p><\/div>\n

27 Oct 2023<\/em> – Japan\u2019s diplomatic approach to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas differs from other Group of Seven nations, which have expressed sole support for Israel.<\/p>\n

And in contrast to its recent attempts to show leadership as the G-7 chair regarding Russia and China, Japan is struggling to engage in balanced diplomacy in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

While holding dialogue with Arab countries, the government is making final arrangements for Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa to visit Israel in early November.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on our stance to support the two-state solution, we will work on building trust between the parties involved through our country\u2019s own initiatives, such as the Corridor for Peace and Prosperity concept,\u201d Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at an Upper House plenary session on Oct. 25.<\/p>\n

Japan has long supported the two-state solution, in which Israel and Palestine coexist as independent nations. It has also promoted the Corridor for Peace and Prosperity concept to support Palestine\u2019s economic independence.<\/p>\n

Kishida\u2019s remarks indicate Japan\u2019s stance has not changed.<\/p>\n

JAPAN, U.S. OUT OF STEP<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even after Hamas\u2019 attack on Israel, Japan has maintained a balanced diplomacy, valuing friendly relations with both Israel and Arab nations supporting Palestine.<\/p>\n

A key reason is Japan\u2019s heavy reliance on the Middle East for more than 90 percent of its crude oil imports.<\/p>\n

If the nation were to come out in full support of Israel, it could face a backlash from Arab countries, potentially leading to a serious energy crisis.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 8, Kishida called for the \u201cutmost restraint from all parties involved,\u201d while strongly condemning Hamas\u2019 attack on X, formerly Twitter.<\/p>\n

Japan began using the term \u201cterrorist attack\u201d from Oct. 11, in contrast to U.S. President Joe Biden, who used the term immediately following Hamas\u2019 attack and expressed full support for Israel.<\/p>\n

Japan and the United States have aligned their positions against China and Russia, but the two nations showed distinct differences in their approaches to the Israel-Hamas conflict at the U.N. Security Council.<\/p>\n

For example, on Oct. 18, the United States vetoed a resolution calling for a ceasefire to the conflict, but Japan voted in favor.<\/p>\n

LIMITATIONS OF A NEUTRAL COUNTRY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kamikawa attended the Cairo Summit for Peace that Egypt hosted on Oct. 21 and it is clear that Japan\u2019s stance remains prioritizing dialogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe path to peace in the Middle East must not be closed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Japanese foreign minister also held talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.<\/p>\n

Kamikawa is considering visiting Israel and Jordan from Nov. 2 to Nov. 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cJapan has no direct stake in either Palestine or Israel, and it is religiously neutral so it can engage in diplomacy from a neutral position,\u201d said Kazuto Suzuki, a professor of international political economy at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Public Policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy utilizing its assets, Japan, acting as a neutral country, could cooperate in ceasefire negotiations, like setting up a place for dialogue between the two sides,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

However, this time, Japan has not been able to fully use the G-7 framework to engage in negotiations.<\/p>\n

Despite being the chair country, Japan is being \u201cexcluded from the G-7,\u201d a Foreign Ministry official said.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 22, Biden held talks with the leaders of the G-7 nations, except for Japan, and the six leaders issued a joint statement in support of Israel\u2019s right to self-defense.<\/p>\n

The omission highlights the limitations of Japan\u2019s diplomacy in that no matter how much it advocates for its own ideals, heading discussions in the G-7 without coordinating with the United States is virtually impossible.<\/p>\n

The upcoming G-7 foreign ministers\u2019 meeting scheduled for early November in Tokyo will be a crucial test for Japanese leadership in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Go to Original – asahi.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite being its chair, Japan was \u201cexcluded from the G-7.\u201d On 22 Oct Biden held talks with the leaders of the G-7 nations, except for Japan, and the six leaders issued a joint statement in support of Israel\u2019s right to self-defense. Japan has long supported the two-state solution, in which Israel and Palestine coexist as independent nations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":247460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[1397,88,179,427],"class_list":["post-247458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-north-africa","tag-g7","tag-israel","tag-japan","tag-palestine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247458"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247461,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247458\/revisions\/247461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}