By Clint Richards
While the agreements are an easy and obvious course of action for Israel, Japan should tread carefully.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Japan on Sunday for a five day visit. He met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday, in talks to boost defense and cyberspace cooperation. At a press conference, Netanyahu emphasized their common challenges, specifically the threat from rogue states with nuclear weapons.
The two leaders also signed a joint statement that “expressed their strong hope for the early resolution of various issues of concerns regarding North Korea, including its nuclear development.” Netanyahu also made a clear connection between North Korea’s path to nuclear armament and Iran’s, saying Iran was seeking to ease sanctions while maintaining military capability.
The two leaders also signed an agreement to bolster joint industrial research and development, and eventually weapons development. While Netanyahu praised Japan as technological innovator that Israel could learn from, their shared efforts in cyber warfare are likely to benefit Japan more than Israel. Israel played a significant part in the Stuxnet cyber attack on Iran, which later reportedly made its way to China. As China’s state-supported cyber warfare capabilities are already well known, Japan will be looking to find an edge by partnering with countries that have their own cyber expertise. However, publically pursuing that technology could have the unwanted effect of attracting further cyber attacks from China in the short term.
Read the full story at The Diplomat