HONG KONG -- In June, China invited Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Beijing for a state visit in the fall. After bringing Saudi Arabia and Iran to the negotiating table, President Xi Jinping appeared to be on a world diplomacy roll, with eyes on mediating Palestinian-Israeli peace.
Fast forward four months: Israel is at war with Hamas in Gaza and calling out China for failing to condemn the militant group's cross-border assault on Israel last month; China's special diplomatic envoy to the Middle East Zhai Jun has yet to make it to Israel; and Beijing appears to have done little to facilitate peace, despite its political and economic clout in the region.
