The United States is intensifying its pressure on allies not to install Chinese 5G communications infrastructure and may punish those that ignore its warning. At the same time, Huawei is at the center of political turmoil around the world, and some cellular providers have chosen Western alternatives rather than waiting for decisions by their governments about the use of Chinese technology. Although the Israeli government has not made any official pronouncement on this matter, the likelihood that Israeli 5G infrastructure will include...
On May 20, 2020, the White House released a document titled “United States Strategic Approach to the People’s Republic of China,” which describes China’s challenge to the United States and the US response strategy. Overall, the document is a direct extension of President Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy of December 2017, which focuses on the strategic “great power competition.” On May 29, President Trump delivered a speech in which he attacked China’s policy and conduct with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic...
The updated document “United States Strategic Approach to the People’s Republic of China” (May 20, 2020) contends that the United States “underestimated the will of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to constrain the scope of economic and political reform in China” and that China’s “increased engagement with the world did not lead to convergence with the citizen-centric, free and open order as the United States had hoped.” Such statements bolster the Chinese view, informed by longstanding distrust and...
IDE Technologies, which specializes in water treatment solutions, won the bid for construction and operation of the Soreq 2 desalination plant. According to a May 24, 2020 Finance Ministry statement, the Israeli company was chosen over Hong Kong-based Hutchison on the basis of pricing considerations. The media, however, cast the decision as accession to a demand by the United States relayed during the recent visit to Israel by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who warned against Chinese involvement in infrastructures. Despite the sense...
The National Security in Hong Kong Law, adopted recently at the annual gathering of the Two Sessions (“Lianghui”) of the People’s Congress in China, reflects Beijing’s interest in preserving Chinese sovereignty in face of “concerns regarding foreign intervention” in territories that are defined as a “core interest.” After the law’s enactment, the United States, Britain, Australia, and Canada issued a joint statement expressing deep concern regarding the legislation. Still, their response was relatively moderate and...
The Chinese global “donation drive” in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis has sparked criticism of Beijing in the international arena. United States and international elements claim that China is using “mask diplomacy” intentionally, to leverage its contributions for political purposes. Indeed, it appears that both Chinese corporations and the Chinese government are exploiting the opportunity created by the pandemic with shipments of donated aid, partly as a way of posing an alternative to the United States as a global leader.
Israel’s new government will have to review the validity of many ideas within the Israeli consensus that have guided foreign policy over the past two decades. Key questions concern the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; relations between Israel and its neighbors in the Middle East, particularly in the area of energy and in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; relations with the United States, including the implications of the competition between China and the US; relations with the European Union; and relations with...
The global, regional, and internal implications of the coronavirus are still not fully clear, but Israel’s 35th government will have no 100-day grace period. It must quickly restore the economy to full activity, despite the presence of the virus and the possibility of a renewed outbreak. On the security level, all the regimes in the Middle East are busy with the pandemic and internal affairs, and will most likely seek to avoid escalation in conflicts with Israel. At the same time, the risk of unplanned escalation (in Syria,...
What will the world look like one year from now, and how will the corona pandemic affect the Middle East? This article presents four possible scenarios: “continuation,” in which following a temporary interruption of a few months, there is a resumption of familiar global and regional trends from the pre-corona era; “revolution,” in which there is a fundamental change in the patterns that characterized life before the crisis and the world prepares for a new illiberal world order led by China; “breakdown,” in which all global actors...
A comparative analysis enables us to examine different approaches to the challenges posed by the corona pandemic around the world. Most countries have adopted a similar coping strategy, based on three components: the first is a lockdown policy (to varying degrees), in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus and avoid overloading the health system; the second is the improvement of preparedness and readiness in health systems; and the third is a broad economic aid package in response to the sudden economic shutdown and the deep...
The Chinese response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been reflected in varying intensities in medical, economic, and public relations terms in accordance with the spread of the virus. After China managed to gain control over the domestic outbreak, the Chinese government directed significant attention to the international arena in an effort to bolster China’s image as a responsible global power, and to take advantage of the infection’s outbreak around the world in order to promote its ideas and influence. However, in the...
Despite increasing US pressure on its allies not to install Chinese fifth generation (5G) communications infrastructure, and along with the possibility of punitive measures against those who ignore such warnings, the American campaign against the Chinese company Huawei has met with limited success. Other countries face a dilemma between acceding to the US demands to avoid installing Chinese technology in their communications infrastructure and maintaining proper economic relations with the Chinese power. While some have decided in...
