During the two days of fighting (November 12-13, 2019), Palestinian Islamic Jihad launched 450 projectiles at Israel, some of them toward the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. The damage caused to the home front was minimal, and the military and civilian apparatuses functioned reasonably well. However, casting this recent round as an Israeli success as far as the level of robustness of the home front is misleading. It is liable to cause complacency that might have an adverse effect on the motivation to improve the civil preparedness for a...
Meir Elran | Carmit Padan | Sasson Hadad | Shmuel Even
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...
The discharge of men inducted into the IDF from July 2015 began in March 2018, after 32 months of compulsory service (compared with 36 months until then). A law stipulating a further shortening of compulsory service for men is supposed to apply to those drafted from July 2020, such that they will serve 30 months. However, according to media reports, the past year has heard dissenting voices within the military against adopting this shortened service, in view of the increasing security challenges. In contrast, some in the Ministry of...
Since the 1980s, we have witnessed rapid changes in a world characterized by a neo-liberal economy, increased human migration, and information technologies developing at an unprecedented pace. These transformations are putting stress on modern state structures and have allowed non-state players to enter the heart of global consciousness. These new entities pose new security challenges, including ethnic conflicts, civil wars, the use of robotics-based autonomous weapons, and terrorist attacks both in the physical sphere and...
As expected, the renewal of economic sanctions against Iran one year ago led to a worsening of an already bad economic situation in Iran. A number of economic indexes attest to the severity of the economic crisis, mainly the budget deficit stemming from the unprecedented drop in the export of Iranian oil, high inflation, and negative economic growth. In contrast, a number of indexes may also suggest that the Iranian economy is gradually acclimating to the sanctions regime. The deepening economic crisis has heightened the sense of...
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...
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...
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...
This article analyzes the economic relations between China and Israel, from the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992 until the present. On the basis of this analysis, questions regarding the future of these relations and possible directions for development will be raised, and a framework for preferred relations will be suggested. A central question is: can Israel-China relations develop in directions that are desirable and beneficial for Israel’s national economic interest, and if so, how? Since the establishment of...
In 2017, Israel and China marked 25 years of diplomatic relations. The establishment of diplomatic relations was made possible in part by geo-strategic changes – the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Communist bloc, and the Madrid Peace Conference in November 1991. During a single week in January 1992, Israel established relations with both China and with India. The nature of Israel-China relations has changed over the years. In general, the first decade of relations focused on close relations between the military...
The multiyear Tnufa (“momentum”) plan drawn up by IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi is meant to provide a response to changes affecting the IDF – those underway and those that are expected in the next five years – and to improve operational effectiveness. However, recently the situation assessment has been flooded with factors related to economic and political conditions that may delay and limit the plan’s launch. There can be no doubt regarding the multiyear plan’s importance to the IDF, both for force...
The economic workshop in Bahrain is the first part of the “deal of the century”; the political portion will apparently be presented only after the Israeli elections in September. The workshop in Bahrain leans heavily on Donald Trump’s political doctrine, whereby the economic power of the United States is the key to resolve economic, political, and social issues. However, a review of peace treaties that Israel has signed shows that the economy has consistently played only a secondary role, behind significant...
