The coronavirus that erupted in December 2019 in the city of Wuhan in China has infected tens of thousands of people and so far claimed over 2400 lives. The rapid spread of the virus has sparked global panic, and several countries, including Israel, have taken unprecedented measures to deal with the danger of infection, such as closing their gates to foreigners arriving from China and other countries, evacuating their own citizens from China, and putting them into quarantine until cleared of possible infection. Business companies...
At the core of the strategic assessment for 2020 stands the tension between Israel’s evident strength and its success in various fields, and the possibility that this positive state of affairs will prove temporary and fragile. This tension stems from a series of factors that in the coming year could lead to a large-scale conflict and even to war, and involves Israel’s approach to a series of substantive national security challenges: Iran’s increasing audacity – on the nuclear issue, in its efforts at force buildup in Syria and other...
After three decades of United States dominance as the only global superpower, the third decade of the 21st century begins amidst strategic competition in the international arena on multiple levels. Countries, organizations, and international corporations are part of this competition, which is led by the world powers: the United States, which is still the strongest in the world in terms of resources and capabilities; China, which uses its economic power as leverage for political influence and increased military power, even though its...
The Power Gap
As it enters a new decade, the State of Israel possesses impressive military, political, technological, and economic power. However, Israel is hard-pressed to translate these advantages into strategic influence and achieve its key national security objectives: mitigating threats, advancing peace, building alliances, and dictating the terms for the satisfactory conclusion of conflicts. This reality results from the limited benefit that military action can provide Israel against its main adversaries, as well as Israel’s...
On January 15, 2020, the United States and China signed an interim agreement as a first phase toward a comprehensive deal that will end the trade war between the two countries. However, the actual achievement is questionable, since the key components of the agreement focus on at least partial elimination of the tariffs imposed during the trade war, while the American demand that China reduce its subsidies to state-owned Chinese enterprises – which give Chinese companies advantages over other companies – was left out of the agreement....
After lengthy groundwork by the National Security Council, the Ministry of Finance, and the National Economic Council, Israel’s political-security cabinet decided to establish an advisory committee to examine national security issues as part of the approval process for foreign investments. The decision comes as a result of American pressure and Israel’s fears of damage to the strategic relations with the United States, after Washington made it clear that it expects Israel to change its stance on Chinese activity in the state. The...
As Egypt formulates and implements its economic reform program, “the Chinese development model” is mentioned with increasing frequency in official Egyptian discourse as a supreme positive example. The Chinese model is identified in Egypt with modernization, scientific advances, foreign investments, integration into the global economy, and mega-projects that stand to yield high economic growth rates and enable a response to the challenges of a rapidly growing population and dire poverty. In addition, the Chinese “success story” is...
Both Israel and China are approximately 70 years old. Each is the homeland of an ancient nation, has a rich historical heritage, and embodies the immense national pride of its citizens. Since the establishment of official diplomatic relations between Israel and China, the bilateral connections have evolved and grown, and today are especially noteworthy in the realms of economy, culture, and tourism. The volume of trade between the countries has increased in the areas of agriculture, health, water, hi tech, and more. In the cultural...
With its dramatic growth over the last three decades, China has catapulted to become a global economic superpower, second only to the United States. Concurrently, it has established itself as a political power, and it is likewise seeking to expand in the military-security realms. These decades also saw the development of China’s relations with Israel, which began in 1992 and grew particularly rapidly over the last decade, mostly in economic terms. China already possesses significant markets, capital surpluses, and excess production,...
Since the 1990s, there has been a significant improvement in Israel’s international relations, especially on the economic level. The collapse of the Communist bloc, the establishment of relations with India and China, and the upgraded relations with the European Union have enabled Israel to enter new markets, while leveraging its innovation capabilities in a variety of fields, from development and production of weapon systems to desalination, water recycling, and irrigation technologies. The international arena, which until the fall...
China is a superpower growing politically, economically, and militarily, and has an international vision and global map of interests. Along with its political and economic programs, its security and military needs have also grown. Thus, there has been an increase in China’s military budget in recent years, along with groundbreaking steps such as building its first independently produced aircraft carrier and establishing its first military base outside of China.1 In October 2017, at the 19th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party,...
Over the past decade, Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private companies have acquired Israeli companies and invested at a growing rate in various Israeli civilian industries such as transportation infrastructure, food, chemicals, mining resources, cellular technologies, cybersecurity, and medical technology. In Israel, companies are required to turn to the Israel Securities Authority and report any outside overtures to acquire their assets (or investments that would constitute control), starting from the negotiation...
