China and Israel: Evolving Relationship within the Belt and Road Initiative

Abstract

In recent years, with the cessation of defense relations, Israel and China have sought to expand their diplomatic and economic relations, mainly in the field of industrial research and development, large-scale academic cooperation, and investment. The expansion of cooperation between the two countries is mainly due to the status of Israel as a start-up country, which can satisfy China's technological needs and help it modernise many of its industries. Beijing also sees Israel as a strategic outpost in its regional interests-a small but vital stopover under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), connecting the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea through the Gulf of Suez, as a land bridge connecting trade and energy routes from the Far East through Africa to the Middle East and further to Europe on profitable trade routes by land and sea. The construction of a railway line from Eilat to Ashdod connecting the Red and Mediterranean Seas, as well as the construction of a new port in Ashdod, will provide a safe alternative route to the Suez Canal. Israel's well-secured human capital, a developed economy, a high-tech foundation, a stable public and state business environment have further enhanced the country's attractiveness as a key element of BRI.

Epistemic Turbulence in Renewable Energy Engineering on the Chinese “Belt and Road”

“…In November 2013, the BRI was written into the comprehensive reform blueprint adopted by the Initially focused on China's neighbors in Central Asia, the scope of the BRI has broadened to include new regions and a huge array of projects such as roads, seaports, oil and gas pipelines, railways, and logistics centers. Israel occupies an attractive strategic position within the BRI framework: at the crossroads of the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, the country is a key geopolitical link between Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe (Harutyunyan 2020). Although Israel has not signed a formal memorandum of understanding acceding to the BRI, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in bilateral meetings with President Xi Jinping, expressed Israel's support of the initiative.…”

Israel’s Geopolitical Strategy: Strategic Partnership, Territorial Disputes and International Support

“…This relationship aids Israel in garnering international support within international organizations and promotes trade and technological cooperation. Israel also actively seeks to establish diplomatic relations with non-Arab Asian and African countries, including India, China, Japan, South Africa, among others [7]. These diplomatic efforts expand Israel's opportunities for international support within international organizations and create prospects for increased trade and technological cooperation.…”

Chinese Investment in Turkey: The Belt and Road Initiative, Rising Expectations and Ground Realities

“…This brief overview of Chinese investment in Serbia, Hungary, Egypt and Israel reveals the critical importance of accessing reliable and uniform data for cross-country comparisons. Much like the Turkish case, the main shortcomings of the available data are (a) vast differences in Chinese OFDI reports according to different sources (Szunomár and Peragovics 2019); (b) the inability of the figures to account for Chinese offshore investments (Völgyi and Lukács 2021;Dimitrijević 2017); (c) differences between pledged and invested capital (Elshamy 2017); and (d) the omission of sectors such as the arms trade from reports (especially for Israel) (Harutyunyan 2020). Although we will draw provisional conclusions below based on the discussion above, future case studies on Chinese OFDI could benefit from data-driven analyses such as the one we have done for this article.…”