G20isareminderthatwe need to think globally

PRIME MINISTER Theresa May will make her first appearance at a global summit on Sunday at the G20 meeting in Hangzhou, eastern China. The city was once home to a small Jewish community and even a synagogue. In this symbolism lurks an important message for Jews around the world.

The G20 itself symbolises the new world order, and has supplanted the Western-dominated G8. It accounts for 85 per cent of world GDP and includes the rising Asian powers of China and India. Just as the economic balance of power is shifting east and south in the globe, Jewry worldwide needs to realign its relationships accordingly.

Around 56.1 per cent of the global Jewish population live in G20 countries. Jews comprise 0.17 per cent of the G20’s total population, not dissimilar to our 0.2 per cent of the world’s population. A number of the countries in the G20 have strong Jewish communities (notably the US, France and the UK) or an admiring fascination with Jews (South Korea and China, for instance). In South Korea, the Talmud is widely read and mandatory in many classrooms.

Second, even some of the countries with smaller Jewish communities have interesting connections to Jewry. India, the world’s largest democ- racy, has had a Jewish population for hundreds of years. Partly because of this, India is well-disposed towards Jews. Similarly, China fondly remembers its small Jewish communities dating from medieval times. More recently, Jews fleeing Tsarist persecution, Nazi Europe and Iraq settled in Shanghai and elsewhere in the country.

Third, as the Jewish nation-state, Israel has burgeoning trade, technology and diplomatic relations with many of these countries — not to mention an array of shared interests.

India’s PM, Narendra Modi, was the first to tweet his congratulations after Benjamin Netanyahu’s election victory in March 2015. A number of the G20 countries are at the forefront of the battle against Islamic terrorism. Even Saudi Arabia, the only country in the G20 with no recognised Jewish community, is developing warm relations with Israel. Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, has growing business ties with the Jewish state, albeit often below the radar.

Of course, despite what conspiracy theorists say, there is no centralised Jewish authority worldwide. However, the G20 meeting was a reminder of the need for us to think globally as a people. China and India will be increasingly important to the future of the Jews. Never mind the G20, perhaps we need a J20! Zaki Cooper is a Trustee of the Council of Christians and Jews