By John Daly
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China and Israel are the most pragmatic of partners. For China, Israel’s prime attraction is as a source of cutting-edge high technology, for Israel, its gaining a foothold in the world’s largest market.
China’s interest in Israel’s technology combined with China’s go it alone attitudes on energy issues represent a mixed blessing for Tel Aviv.
On the plus side for Israel, a Chinese bank is in talks to finance the construction of a $25 million, 14-megawatt wind farm for Yarok Energy Ltd on the Golan Heights, where the company has operated a 4.8-megawatt wind turbine farm for the past two decades.
China’s determination to invest in contested Golan territories comes despite that fact that the United Nations on 12 January passed a “Resolution adopted by the General Assembly (on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee [Fourth Committee] [A/66/427] ‘66/80. The occupied Syrian Golan’” which noted, “Deeply concerned (italics in original) that the Syrian Golan, occupied since 1967, has been under continued Israeli military occupation,” …” 2. Also calls upon (italics in original) Israel to desist from changing the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and legal status of the occupied Syrian Golan and in particular to desist from the establishment of settlements…”.
For Israel, China’s occasionally pusillanimous attitudes towards both the UN and the world community are not an overwhelming source of distress – if Chinese capital wants to fund a power project on the Golan Heights despite “changing the physical character” of the region amidst a slowly roiling Syrian civil war, who are the UN to criticize such actions?
And military cooperation between the two nations is deepening – according to Xinhau, during a 21 May meeting in Beijing China and Israel pledged to boost ties between their armed forces as their chiefs of staff held talks. China’s People’s Liberation Army General Staff chief Chen Bingde told Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Benny Gantz after lauding political, economic, cultural and people-to-people ties over the past two decades since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Israel, “Military-to-military ties between the two nations have also grown along with the overall bilateral relationship.” Underlining the importance of his visit, Gantz also met with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping.
The bilateral military discussions build upon a visit last May when Israeli officials hosted PLA Navy commander Wu Shengli, and a month later, in June 2011 when Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak to China. Chen reciprocated with a visit to Israel two months later, while in December 2011, Israel’s paramilitary Border Police unit hosted a delegation from the People’s Republic of China’s People’s Armed Police (PAP).
Top of China’s military wish from Israel’s defence establishment?
Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, along with advanced technology from fields ranging from agriculture to automobiles.
But, as far as China’s interest in Israeli military high-tech, University of Haifa the Department of Asian Studies Professor Yoram Evron noted that Israel is very “strict” in its defence exports to China as so much of it is derived from the U.S. and consequently Israel “will not dare to jeopardize its relations with the U.S., on which it depends so heavily.”
For Israel?
Political support, and access to China’s immense market.
China is now Israel’s third-largest trade partner, after the European Union and United States. In 2011 Israeli-Chinese bilateral trade exceeded $8 billion, roughly 20 percent higher than in 2010.
What could cloud this otherwise sunny picture?
Iran.
China relies on Iran for roughly 10 percent of its oil supply and has repeatedly rejected intensifying UN sanctions against Iran for its nuclear activities, an effort led by the U.S. and Israel, which suspect that Iran’s nuclear energy program in facts mask a secret military effort to acquire nuclear weapons.
According to Iran’s Ambassador to Beijing Mehdi Safari, in 2011 Chinese-Iranian trade increased 55 percent to more than $45 billion a $16 billion increase over 2010 trade. Notably, China boosted its oil imports from Iran by 30 percent in 2011 despite Western and UN sanctions pressure, importing nearly 557,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian oil. On an optimistic note, Safari late last year observed, “The real expectation that the volume of trade (between Iran and China) has the capacity to reach $100 billion is on our agenda.”
So, $5 billion versus $8 billion annual trade?
Oil now, or drones later?
Beijing’s not saying.
Neither is Tel Aviv.
Some have suggested elsewhere on this site that Israel and Russia would make good allies.
One of those boasted Russian-Jewish heritage as at least a partial source of his admiration for Russia (Arnold Harris, are you out there?).
OK, I’m also of Russian-Jewish extraction. To be precise, Ukrainian from my late mum’s side (her grandparents and her father came over from Kremanchug), and Byelorussian from my dad’s side. All were part of Russia when my ancestors lived there.
I also have a BA in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Michigan, and studied the Russian language for three years. I did volunteer work in the early 90s with Jewish emigres from the former Soviet Union to help teach them English (this really improved my Russian).
I am very well versed in Russin history and culture.
And so, to those who think Russia would make a dandy ‘ally’ for Israel, I have this question:
Are you out of your frigging minds?
Stalin was a monster, the worst history ever produced outside of Mao Zedong. When asked what the costs were of forced collectivization of agriculture in the 20s/30s, he admitted that it was worse than WW2. And they lost 20 million in that war by the most conservative estimates.
And it is true, as I believe Laura pointed out elsewhere, that Stalin did plan to round up Soviet Jews and send them to concentration camps in Siberia, a plan that was scotched by his death. This is detailed in Solzhenitsyn’s book, and he was no friend of the Jews himself.
It is also true that the Russian people – along with others in the Soviet Empire – fought bravely and tenaciously against the most brutal invasion in history. They bore the brunt of the war against the Nazis, and we should be grateful for their sacrifices and fortitude. But it was Stalin who purged his officer corps of his best generals in the years leading up to the war, who signed the nonaggression pact with Hitler, and who ignored voluminous warnings from multiple intelligence sources about the impending German invasion, leaving his country critically vulnerable on the eve of Hitler’s attack. Had he not gutted his officer corps and had his forces properly alerted/mobilized to deal with the German attack, things might have turned out very differently. The Soviets won their war in spite of Stalin, not because of him.
Perhaps Mr. Harris might consider just why his ancestors chose to leave Russia in the first place.
Maybe it is true that Russia doesn’t throw her allies/vassals under the bus as the U.S. has at times (most noticeably under Obama), but the emphasis here should be on vassals. That is what Russia wants – vassals – and if Israel becomes beholden to Russia over anything, the price of this relationship will be very high.
And, since Russia considers the likes of Iran and Syria under Assad “allies”…what will they do to hold them back from their activities against Israel? Who was ‘in line’ first? Helping Israel in the ways she most needs now would of necessity involve Russia throwing Iran under the bus. Would she do this?
With all of the above in mind, FM Lieberman’s ethnic background and linguistic skills notwithstanding, if Obama is re-elected (which I don’t expect, but allow is possible), I expect Israel to move closer to China at the expesne of her relationship with the U.S. China, not Russia, will benefit most from a U.S.-Israeli “divorce”, and will likely be the best candidate for “most favored major power ally” for Israel if a second Obama term becomes reality.
This is not without risks of its own. The most obvious complicating factor, as pointed out above, is China’s relationship with Iran (but Russia as Iran’s primary arms supplier, and the source of her nuclear technology, this does not worry some people here, strangely enough…).
There are other problems. Not only is China heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil – far more so than the U.S. – but China’s human rights record really is pretty bad. Does Israel want to get too close to such a regime? Some here may not consider that important, dismissing the significance of this factor…and those people have never lived in an authoritarian or totalitarian state themselves. I’ve personally known many who have. It is not an issue so easily brushed aside.
On the plus side for China, so far as I am aware, there is no “Arab lobby” – of the sort described in Mitchell Bard’s excellent book – operating in China. China has internal power squabbles, but no outside powers tell them what to do. But on the minus side, there is also no significant Jewish population, no Christian Evangelicals, no general public support for Israel at the street level, and thus no “Israel lobby” in a generalized sense to push back against anti-Israel policies if these surface. If the winds change and China decides to screw Israel at some later date for some “pragmatic” reason – as Obama & Co. now satisfy themselves that they are now doing – there will be no way to counter this.
However, the most attractive aspect of China is their total lack of European-style indigenous anti-Semitism. I don’t think they even comprehend Jew hatred. I asked a relative of mine who is a big-shot academia China specialist what she thought of reports I’d heard that Arab/Islamist types have been circulating The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in China. She laughed and said that even if Chinese people believed it, it would only increase their admiration for the Jews. Their attitude would be something like, “WOW! That’s really cool. Those Jews are just sooo clever! We need to learn how to pull off something like that!”
A year from now, all this may be moot. But, it is good to discuss these matters so that others who may be “listening” don’t think they can take Israel for granted!
Israel’s Claim to the Golan:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/golan1.html
Golan belonged to Syrian for only 23 years and to Israel for the past 45 years!
In ancient and classical times, the Golan was heavily forested (see Ezekiel 27:5-6). Today, small remnants of these forests survive near Odem and Mt. Avital in the north, and near Yehudiya in the central Golan. Half of Israel’s mammal and reptile species, and all of its amphibians, can be found on the Heights.
In Biblical times, the Golan Heights was referred to as “Bashan;” the word “Golan” apparently derives from the biblical city of “Golan in Bashan,” (Deuteronomy 4:43, Joshua 21:27). The area was assigned to the tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 13:29-31). In early First Temple times (953-586 BCE), the area was contested between the northern Jewish kingdom of Israel and the Aramean kingdom based on Damascus. King Ahab of Israel (reigned c. 874-852 BCE) defeated Ben-Hadad I of Damascus near the site of Kibbutz Afik in the southern Golan (I Kings 20:26-30), and the prophet Elisha prophesied that King Jehoash of Israel (reigned c. 801-785 BCE) would defeat Ben-Hadad III of Damascus, also near Kibbutz Afik (11 Kings 13:17). In the late 6th and 5th centuries BCE, the region was settled by returning Jewish exiles from Babylonia (modern Iraq). In the mid 2nd century BCE, Judah Maccabee and his brothers came to the aid of the local Jewish communities when the latter came under attack from their non-Jewish neighbors (I Maccabees 5). Judah Maccabee’s grandnephew, the Hasmonean King Alexander Jannai (reigned 103-76 BCE) later added the Heights to his kingdom. The Greeks referred to the area as “Gaulanitis”, a term also adopted by the Romans, which led to the current application of the word “Golan” for the entire area. Gamla became the Golan’s chief city and was the area’s last Jewish stronghold to resist the Romans during the Great Revolt, falling in the year 67 (see Josephus, The Jewish War, Chap. 13, Penguin edition). Despite the failure of the revolt, Jewish communities on the Heights continued, and even flourished; the remains of no less than 25 synagogues from the period between the revolt and the Islamic conquest in 636 have been excavated. (Several Byzantine monasteries from this period have also been excavated on the Heights.) The decisive battle in which the Arabs under Caliph Omar, crushed the Byzantines and established Islamic control over what is now Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, was fought in the Yarmouk Valley, on the southern edge of the Heights, in August 636. Organized Jewish settlement on the Golan came to an end at this time.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, Druze began to settle in the northern Golan and on the slopes of Mt. Hermon. During the brief period of Egyptian rule (1831-1840) and in the ensuing decades, Sudanese, Algerians, Turkomans and Samarian Arabs settled on the Heights. The Turks brought in Circassians in the 1880’s to fight against Bedouin brigands.
The Jewish presence on the Golan was renewed in 1886, when the B’nei Yehuda society of Safed purchased a plot of land four kilometers north of the present-day religious moshav of Keshet, but the community — named Ramataniya — failed one year later. In 1887, the society purchased lands between the modern-day B’nei Yehuda and Kibbutz Ein Gev. This community survived until 1920, when two of its last members were murdered in the anti-Jewish riots which erupted in the spring of that year. In 1891, Baron Rothschild purchased approximately 18,000 acres of land about 15 km. east of
Ramat Hamagshimim, in what is now Syria. First Aliyah (1881-1903) immigrants established five small communities on this land, but were forced to leave by the Turks in 1898. The lands were farmed until 1947 by the Palestine Colonization Association and the Israel Colonization Association, when they were seized by the Syrian army. Most of the Golan Heights were included within Mandatory Palestine when the Mandate was formally granted in 1922, but Britain ceded the area to France in the Franco-British Agreement of 7 March 1923. The Heights became part of Syria upon the termination of the French mandate in 1944.
After the 1948-49 War of Independence, the Syrians built extensive fortifications on the Heights, from where they systematically shelled civilian targets in Israel and launched terrorist attacks (in gross violation of Article III of the Israel-Syria Armistice Agreement of 20 July 1949). 140 Israelis were killed and many more were injured in these attacks between 1949 and 1967; heavy property damage was also inflicted. During the 1967 Six-Day War, the IDF captured the Golan Heights — in response to Syrian attacks — in just over 24 hours of intense fighting on 9-10 June. Nearly all of the Golan’s Arab inhabitants fled as a result of the war; four Druze villages remain, three on the slopes of Mt. Hermon and one in the northern Golan.
The renewal of the Jewish presence on the Heights almost immediately followed the war. Kibbutz Merom Golan was founded in July 1967, at the initiative of kibbutzim in the nearby Upper Galilee and Hula Valley. By 1970, there were 12 Jewish communities on the Golan. On 6 October 1973, Syrian forces attacked across the 1967 cease-fire line and made their greatest gains in the central Golan, almost reaching the escarpment, before being pushed back beyond the 1967 line by the main Israeli counterattack, which began on the morning of 8 October.
Israel and Syria signed a Separation of Forces Agreement on 31 May 1974; this agreement remains in force.
To my knowledge, there is NO nation on this planet Earth that is a friend to Israel from start to finish. Support, trade, assistances, fancy speeches; these are ALL given in SECRET, or to Jewish audiences. Perhaps it is time to blow the secrets? Perhaps it is time for Israel to declare how it is a friend to so many countries. But it certainly is time for Israel to DEMAND apologies and reparations for those who malign it. The latest is the author of the Colour Purple who has declared Israel an apartheid state and refuses to have her book published in Hebrew. The Diaspora Jews need to head this betrayal of their dedicated support. Pride International needs to be sued for liable. How is anyone going to respect Israel and Jewish people if they continue to a) ALLOW libel and b) keep trying to JUSTIFY their positions. Silly
And as for China, you hold your enemies close.
Lily
NO more rationalization, explanations,justifications. Those are seen as signs of weakness and lack of resolve.
Syria uses the Golan Heights to attack Israel. For survival, Israel must maintain control of these sites for survival. Just like Israel needs to build fences at its borders to stop infiltration of murders and illegal migrants who will conquer by demographics. Period. Finish. Gamarti. Done. Enough.
Let the other sides PROVE their peaceful intentions by word and deed and over a long period of time.
Lily
Israel needs to go it alone and not wind up being beholden to China.
Syria started a war with Israel, attacking it from the Golan Heights, and subsequently lost the Golan Heights to Israel. That means the Golan Heights lawfully belongs to Israel and is therefore not “occupying” it. That word is thrown around so much with regard to Israel and territory it holds as a result of defensive wars.
@ Bert:
The Orion project sounds like nonsense to me, a physicist. What are the principles underlying the energy? What is this nonsense about 100 years? Extract energy from zero-point energy? Nonsense.
This site is dedicated to discussing Israeli issues and politics. Keep your free energy nonsense to yourself.
Question: Who rules the rulers?
The energy/oil problem for Israel can be cured.
PM Netanyahu has proposed an Israeli initiative to end the world’s dependency on oil within ten years. However their effort is still based mainly on improving efficiency of existing technologies rather than on any dramatic breakthrough.
Breakthrough energy technologies have existed for years but the U.S. government has deliberately blocked all progress to keep oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear in the dominant position. See http://www.energysuppression.com
I tried to make Israeli authorities aware of massive information already available on the internet but they remain unresponsive.
See for yourself:
Go to http://www.theorionproject.org/Energy.pdf This urgent memorandum was sent to Obama and Congress over three years ago to kick start an energy breakthrough for only $3 million.
So far no response except for anonymous threatening phone received by the team causing their engineers to withdraw. This is what happens today in ‘the land of the flea and the home of the knave.’
See also http://www.waterpoweredcar.com A promising potential breakthrough until the inventor, Stanley Meyer, died suddenly in 1998 under odd circumstances.
Meanwhile, Canada is being held back from constructing a pipeline to the West coast (ie – nearer to China), by its “environmental lobby” – most likely funded by Soros, as such groups usually are. Freeing up Canadian oil to sell to China could take a big bite out of China’s imports from Iran.