Why China Must Drop Iran and Embrace Israel

The echoes of Nanking and October 7 demand that China reexamine its alliances and stand with Israel against barbarism.

The other night, my wife Debbie and I were guests of our dear friends Sir Clive and Lady Anya Gillinson at Carnegie Hall. Clive—who is like a brother to me—is the most accomplished head of a cultural institution anywhere on earth. Over more than two decades, he has transformed Carnegie Hall, already world-famous, into an unparalleled global supernova of live music who’s prestige is unchallenged, even in the greatest cultural Meccas of Paris, Rome, Vienna, and Milan.

The occasion was an unforgettable and inspiring concert by the National Youth Orchestra, created by Clive and Carnegie Hall, which is about to tour Asia—most notably China. In the “Presidential” box with us, as Clive’s personal guest, was the newly appointed Consul General of China in New York.

Last year, we had attended China’s own National Youth Orchestra’s performance at Carnegie Hall, which was indeed outstanding—although as an American, I will confess it was perhaps not quite as electrifying as our own. (I trust the Chinese people can forgive my patriotic bias.)

In our warm and brief conversation, I told the Consul General how deeply moved I am, as a Jew, an American, and a student of history, by the story of the Rape of Nanking in 1937. The atrocities that befell China in those months echo, almost uncannily, the horrors that the Jewish people—and especially Israeli women—endured on October 7 in the barbaric Hamas attack on the communities surrounding Gaza.

I write today not merely as a man of faith, but as a voice for those silenced by rape, terror, and ideological apathy. I call upon China’s leadership—and the conscience of every Chinese citizen—to recognize our shared past trauma, born of two of history’s most harrowing chapters: the Rape of Nanking and the October 7 massacre in Israel.

These twin horrors should unite our peoples—not only in mourning but in moral purpose.

Two Catastrophes, One Moral Imperative

Each event tore at the fabric of human dignity. Relative to the size of each nation’s population, the massacres in Nanking and southern Israel are chillingly comparable.

In Nanking, between December 1937 and March 1938, the Japanese Imperial Army unleashed an orgy of terror in China’s capital. Civilians were systematically hunted, executed, burned alive. And women—mothers, daughters, grandmothers—were violated on a scale that defies comprehension.

“They raped my sister and my mother in front of me. When my father protested, they shot him.” —Nanking survivor

Most camel victims were forced to “service” four to six Japanese soldiers daily; some who were particularly “attractive” endured 10 to 20 assaults per day. Japanese soldiers reportedly shoved poles into women’s vaginas “to see how far they would go” and stuffed burning cotton into their private parts, igniting them from within. Babies were bayoneted. Pregnant women were disemboweled. Conservative estimates place the death toll above 200,000; rape victims numbered anywhere from 20,000 to 80,000.

Now consider October 7, 2023. On that horrific morning, Hamas terrorists stormed southern Israel—attacking music festivals, kibbutzim, and family homes. Nearly 1,200 men, women, and children were massacred. More than 250 were taken hostage. And like Nanking, sexual violence was not incidental but strategic and systemic.

A UN investigation found “clear and convincing” evidence of systemic sexual violence by Hamas—rape, gang rape, genital mutilation, and forced nudity at multiple sites. Women were raped in front of their children. Some had their breasts sliced off; Hamas terrorists reportedly tossed the severed remains back and forth like grotesque toys. Others were raped and then shot in the vagina.

“They tied my neighbor’s teenage daughter naked to a pole and made her watch as they slaughtered her family.” —October 7 survivor

Men were castrated. Children were forced to witness their parents’ torture and murder.

The parallels are too stark to ignore: entire communities annihilated, women’s bodies weaponized to humiliate nations, and atrocities proudly recorded. The Japanese filmed Nanking. Hamas used GoPros. Both celebrated their crimes, rather than concealing them.

China’s Strategic and Moral Crossroads

Why should the People’s Republic of China—a nation of ancient wisdom and emerging global power—heed Israel’s cries? Because China knows too well the corrosive legacy of victimization and denial.

China’s current alignment—embracing Iran while sidelining Israel—is shortsighted and problematically immoral. Iran funds and arms Hamas, whose barbarity is a stain on the great world religion of Islam. Iran’s proxies—Hezbollah in Lebanon, militias in Syria and Yemen—share the same genocidal ideology that engineered October 7.

By contrast, Israel prosecutes perpetrators and cares for survivors. It has transformed grief into resilience and serves as a global leader in documenting wartime sexual violence, notably through the Dinah Project.

China prides itself on “the people’s welfare” as a cornerstone of governance. That welfare must include women, who disproportionately suffer in wartime atrocities. Aligning with Israel over Iran would send a powerful moral message: victims of sexual violence and genocide deserve accountability—not ideological excuses.

Lessons From History, A Path for the Future

In Nanking and Israel, sexual violence was a weapon of genocide, aimed at annihilating identity and pride.

After Nanking, Japan denied or minimized its crimes for decades. Only recently has full acknowledgment begun. Similarly, Hamas denies its rapes, even as video, forensic reports, and survivor testimonies stack into a Mount Everest of evidence.

“Both atrocities were not hidden—they were celebrated.”

China, which has itself wrestled with historical denial—from the Cultural Revolution to WWII—should understand the necessity of truth for healing.

Together, China and Israel could co-sponsor a new international treaty against sexual violence in war. They could lead the United Nations in atrocity prevention, drawing from their hard-earned moral authority and suffering.

A Strategic Pivot With Global Benefits

China’s dependency on Iranian oil may seem pragmatic. But this friendship is a reputational liability. Iran is a state sponsor of terror, allied to Assad’s genocidal Syria, and now a cheerleader for Hamas’s atrocities.

A pivot toward Israel offers China not only moral high ground but tangible benefits: access to Israeli innovations in clean technology, famine relief, counterterrorism, and diplomacy.

A Chinese-Israeli joint memorial, or an annual remembrance for victims of sexual violence in Nanking and October 7, would send an unambiguous message: the sanctity of life and dignity is not Western—it is universal.

China could even leverage its Belt and Road Initiative to create “rapid forensic response units” modeled on Israel’s Dinah Project—helping nations document and prosecute wartime sexual violence. This would position China as a growing leader in global humanitarian norms that specifically retain to outlawing rape as a weapon of war.

The Call of History

China’s leadership now stands at a crossroads: support regimes that perpetrate terror, or pivot toward ethical clarity and partnership with a nation that has turned tragedy into resilience.

“Drop the murderers in Tehran. Condemn the monsters in Gaza. Embrace your Jewish brothers—and especially your Jewish sisters.”

Remember Nanking: a city of blood and shame, and—eventually—reckoning. Remember Israel: a people gazing at the ashes of October 7 and refusing to yield.

It is time for China and Israel, two ancient civilizations, to build bridges—not only of shared sorrow but of shared resolve. To say: never again. Never to rape as terror. Never to genocide. Never to denial.

China: Israel calls you to join the side of survivors, justice, and rebuilding. History awaits your answer.

Drop the murderers in Tehran. Condemn the monsters in Gaza. And embrace your Jewish brothers—and especially your Jewish sisters.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is the author of “Kosher Hate” and “Judaism for Everyone.” Follow him on Instagram and X @RabbiShmuley.