Maxine Dovere
JEWISH PRESS - September 22nd, 2015
When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited him to be Israel’s
ambassador to China in 2012, Matan Vilnai’s decorated career had
included time as a cabinet minister, military general, and Knesset
member. But there was one hole in his resumé.
“I knew nothing at all about China,” Vilnai told JNS in an exclusive interview from his Beijing office.
To prepare for his current role, Vilnai embarked on an intensive
six-month study program that included learning basic Mandarin, the
official language of China. His teacher, Shalva Jin, an Israeli Jewish
woman of Chinese descent, traces her heritage to the ancient Kaifeng
Jewish community and made aliyah in 2000.
Vilnai says China and Israel “have become very important allies” in a relationship that is “always improving.”
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