Will post-coronavirus world bring chill to Israel-China relations?

Israelis have not yet seen an increase in coronavirus testing in any significant way despite repeated promises from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the heads of Israel's health care system. Testing certainly hasn’t reached the numbers that the prime minister spoke about only three weeks ago, when he aimed for 20,000 and as many as 30,000 tests a day.

Apparently, Netanyahu was basing his numbers on the expectation that Israel would begin cooperating with the Chinese firm BGI by early April. BGI and its subsidiaries together comprise the largest DNA and genetics company in the world. The problem is that the road to real cooperation with the Chinese behemoth was strewn with obstacles. Chief among them was sharp criticism from senior figures in the defense establishment and specialists in Israel and around the world, who expressed concerns that cooperation of this kind would require exposing sensitive Israeli databases to the Chinese corporation.

Such security considerations existed long before any deal with BGI, and there was nothing new about US pressure on Israel to roll back its budding relationship with Beijing. This time, however, there were other considerations, in particular concerning the country’s image and depending exclusively on Chinese supply lines. Will the age of the coronavirus affect the close relationship that Israel and China have developed over the past decade the way it appears to have affected China’s relations with Europe?

Indeed, Israel confronts tough choices. The government had been in talks with BGI and its partners since late March to build a huge lab to conduct coronavirus testing and to acquire the equipment needed to run thousands of tests a day. Participants in the talks included the Mossad director, Yossi Cohen, as well as representatives from the Defense, Foreign Affairs and Health Ministries.