US pressures Israel on trade with China
Washington is calling on Israel to change the way it monitors foreign investments in Israel, and Israel is likely to take appeasing measures.
American pressure to weaken China's access to sensitive Israeli technologies and infrastructure has increased. Israel’s new government under Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is making certain changes, but perhaps not at the pace or the extent the Americans demand.
The issue arose during Bennett’s Aug. 27 meeting with President Joe Biden as well as during Lapid’s visit to Washington in mid-October, though the topic did not feature in the press releases afterward.
Eyal Hulata, as national security adviser and head of the National Security Council, holds many conversations with the Americans and Israel's ties to China arise often.
Economic ties between Israel and China have strengthened greatly over the last decade. They got a boost from the Israeli government’s decision in 2014 to remove several administrative obstructions and promote technological cooperation agreements with China. Netanyahu met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2017 and hosted Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan in Israel in 2018.
