So, Why Not Dump Israel ?

Why all this fuss about Israel? Aren't they nothing but trouble for America?

To hear a lot of what's going around these days, Israel is at the heart of the problems we have with the Muslim world, and things would be just fine if we became more 'balanced'...or translated, became more pro-Arab and curtailed our support for those pushy, stubborn Jews. Besides, aren't they an ungrateful ally? Certainly President Obama, John Kerry and a lot of others in Washington say things like that all the time. Although they dress it up a little, that is essentially what they believe. Israel is a problem, not an asset.

ISIS, terrorism against the west, Iran's belligerent behavior, the problems in Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and especially with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are all mostly Israel's fault. And murdering Jews is just a natural reaction to 'occupation', although no one's country is being occupied in any usual sense of the way the word is used. Gaza is an example of how bizarre and distorted the idea of Israel's 'occupation has become.

Israel pulled every Jew living in the area out, with effusive guarantees from the EU ,UN and the Bush Administration that it would never be allowed to become a security problem for Israel. Yet the Jewish State is still regularly referred to as 'the occupying power' by the UN and the so-called International Community.And that 'occupation is based on Israel's blockade of Hamas that even the UN called fully legal, a blockade that was only necessary because of the failure by these other entities to honor those those same security guarantees made to Israel to get them to pull out of Gaza in the first place! You literally can't make this stuff up.

Just as an aside, one reason many Israelis aren't the least bit interested in giving up any more land no matter what the UN or anyone else says is precisely because of what happened with Gaza. Why make themselves even more vulnerable for guarantees that won't be kept and demonization as 'occupiers' even after they've left?

Another homily heard often is that Israel can't survive unless it retreats to what people call the 'pre-1967' borders.' That seems fair, doesn't it?

What isn't said much is that those were never borders at all, but simply cease fire lines from 1948 between countries still then in a state of war. Going back to those ceasefire lines would push Israel into an indefensible enclave,turn half a million its citizens into refugees, divide its capitol and make the Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem and Hebron off limits forever to Jews. And it would also give up high ground within easy missile and artillery range of its airports and the country's most populated areas to people who make no mistake about being genocidal when it comes to Israel's Jews.

 

That, after all is what President Obama, the UN and the EU are saying with their insistence on a two state solution based on those 1948 ceasefire lines, and it actually appears that the Obama Administration is willing to sign on to or at least abstain from vetoing a new UN resolution sponsored by France to insist on exactly that.

But hey, isn't that Israel's problem, not ours? So what?

Let's take an objective look. What difference does what happens to Israel make to us here in America? Why should we care? Why is what happens to Israel important to the US? If Israel somehow ceased to exist, would it matter to America? I mean, we give them all that aid money. Why not spend it at home? And who knows, maybe if we weren't giving all that aid to Israel, we might not have all those problems with the Muslim world!

There's a very well organized, well funded effort going on now to convince people of exactly that. Could they be right? Let's find out.

And to do that, let's put aside any of those slooshy considerations of fairness, justice, religion or humanitarian principles and go for the cold, hard, self-serving realpolitik mindset to find out if what happens to Israel is important to the US:

Wouldn't America be more secure if we weren't supporting Israel?

Like it or not, Israel occupies some very strategic real estate in the Levant. It is in a position to safeguard NATO's soft underbelly, especially significant since most of the NATO countries lack any significant military component...and also would have a significant political problem convincing their electorates to support any kind of military action anyway, given whom their electorates increasingly are composed of these days.

As tired of the Middle East as many Americans are, this is an increasingly strategic part of the world where whatever allies we might have had or thought we had among the Sunni Arab states are either alienated, ultimately untrustworthy or weak. Israel is none of these things, and unless you're like John Kerry or our president and are convinced that Iran is now going to be just a peace loving pussycat and ISIS isn't really a major problem, the value of having a strong ally in the region with a powerful military and superior HUMINT on the ground is obvious. Here's a few examples of how that's worked in the past and how it continues to work now:

• Israel pushed the Soviets out of the Middle East during the Cold War  and provided America a first hand look at the latest Soviet weapons and technology...all without the cost of a single American soldier. When the then new Soviet Mig 21 was knocking our pilots out of the air in Vietnam, it was Israel who bribed an Iraqi pilot to bring one to Israel, which they turned over to the United States so we could figure out its weak points and stop the carnage.

• Israel saved literally thousands of American lives by taking out Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor at Osirak. Yes, they did it for their own reasons, but if not for that, the casualty lists from the first Gulf War ten years later would have been very different if it could have even been fought at all. And just imagine what would be going on now in Syria if Israel hadn't knocked out the nuclear facility Basher Assad got from North Korea back in 2007 over the Bush Administration's objections... and ISIS or some other bad actor got it's hands on it?

• Israel has a first class intelligence service in the Mossad and its native Arabic and Farsi speakers contribute immeasurably to US intel by adding to its access in the region and by adding the dimension of `HUMINT'-human intelligence - on the ground. General George Keagan, former head of U.S. Air Force Intelligence, once stated in Congress that "Israel is worth five CIAs," based on the value of intelligence passed to America. Essentially, Israel is a security bulwark and a vital window on America's enemies in the region...unless, of course you agree with President Obama that everything's just wonderful when it comes to countries like Iran and we can rely on Iran's self inspections when it comes to their nuclear weapons program.

• Israel is one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world. It has been and continues to be a major partner of the US in weapons technology in numerous joint projects and the US has access to the fruits of some of the most sophisticated technological installations in the world at Tel-Aviv University and the Technion, Israel's MIT. A lot of those projects have saved US lives and enhanced our own military. Numerous Israeli innovations are now commonly used by our troops on the ground. For example, there's the lightweight helmet Israel developed that's more bullet resistant than the one we had. Our troops use it. There's advanced anti anti tank systems, the Green Pine radar, the AGM-142 Have Nap (AKA the Popeye Missile), the Marine Corps Laser Range Finder made by Israel's Elbeit Systems, the SIMON breach rifle grenade...again, it's a pretty long list.

• Israel also hosts America's Strategic Arms Depot free of charge on its territory, so that American troops can deploy in the region quickly and have their armor, supplies, arms and equipment ready and waiting for them when they get there if we have to deploy our troops there in a hurry. The US arranged that after the First Gulf War, when we had to hire merchant ships to get the stuff over there because we lacked merchant marine capacity. It amounts to a base on foreign territory that America gets for free, and without having to deploy any US troops. Going price for that? Based on what other bases cost us, around $4-5 billion per year....a lot more if you include the cost of stationing personnel there. And that's assuming we could find another reliable country in the region we could trust to let us do it. For instance, we have bases in Bahrain, KSA and Turkey, but those countries have all imposed restrictions on our deploying US forces there or using them for military operations at one time or another.
  
  And Israel's one of the few allies we have who routinely makes its facilities available to US forces when needed, its ports, airfields and air space. That also comes in quite handy.
  

So all things considered, I'd have to say it looks like American security is actually enhanced because of our relationship with Israel, not the other way around.


But what about all that money we give Israel?

'Give' Israel? By law, almost all of that $3.5 billion Israel receives has to be spent here in America, a restriction not many US aid recipients, Pakistan ($5-7 billion) and Egypt ($1.5 billion) for example are subject to. Israel means jobs and prosperity for America's defense industry.

Again, you also have to consider the value of the Strategic Arms depot, free use of Israel's facilities,and HUMINT and the value of all those joint weapons projects. That all adds up to a lot more money than Israel gets in aid from the US.

And here's another aspect to be considered. This partnership allows the US to pressure Israel's defense companies to withdraw from lucrative contracts around the world. One recent example is the $13 billion Polish missile defense contract. The Poles really liked David's Sling, developed by Israel's Rafael and they also had their own issues with Obama, so they were ready to accept Rafael's bid and buy. The US pressured Rafael to withdraw its bid so Raytheon could get the contract. That's by no means the only time this has happened.

All this adds up to Israel being one of America's few foreign policy bargains. The aid is less than one tenth of one percent of the Federal budget and the US receives far more in return than it shells out.

OK, so Israel's a bargain. But maybe we should just get out of the Middle East altogether. We'd have much better relations with the Muslim world if we did that and didn't support Israel, wouldn't we? And wouldn't that stop terrorism against the U.S.?

Is that really how it would work? President Obama and two successive Secretaries of States, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry have operated on that principle for the last 7 years. President Obama famously said he wanted to create 'distance' between America and Israel, and no objective observer can doubt that he's succeeded to a large degree. The EU has followed the same policy to an even greater extent for some time. How has that worked out? Is the EU experiencing peace, tolerance and kumbaya from their own Muslim populations let alone groups like ISIS? Are we?

If Israel were to magically disappear tomorrow, would ISIS, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Taliban, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, Jaish Islami, al-Nusra and all the rest go out of business?

Even after getting $150 billion in cash, the sanctions watered down and eventually ended and getting literally everything they wanted at the negotiating table on their illegal nuclear program, is Iran less aggressive or more aggressive towards the U.S.? Did President Obama's decision to create that distance between America and Israel, ignore the Green Revolution and the Iranian government's hideous crackdown on dissidents seeking democracy lead to a less belligerent Iran? Have the Iranians even stopped the massive public chants of 'death to America' or referring to America as the Great Satan?

The answers are obvious. Iran is far more aggressive, hostile and belligerent towards America than they've ever been, even to the point of refusing to cooperate with America against a common enemy in ISIS. There's no reason at all to think this behavior on Iran's part would change one iota if America completely cut off all ties with Israel. Actually, with Israel weakened or even removed as a check to Iran's ambitions, Iran's hostility and warlike behavior would probably even increase. In any event, if things got that hot the Israelis might very well resort to some drastic means to win out...and we might not like the results.

Another thing about cutting all ties with Israel has to do with how it would affect the geo-political balance. Most Israelis understand that the chief benefit of their relationship with the U.S. is not financial but American back up strategically and in international forums like the UN. If that ends, as President Obama and Secretary Kerry have hinted, how would that affect America?

Israel has very good strategic and trade ties with China, and fairly decent strategic relations with Russia. Wouldn't  America cutting strategic ties be an incentive to Israel to form stronger ones with them? How would that affect the U.S.? And how would the spectacle of America dumping a long time ally affect how other U.S. allies looked at their own relationships with America?

Another allegation that's fairly common these days in DC is that al-Qaeda and ISIS use Israel as a recruiting tool. To a certain extent that's true to a degree now, but it's also true that neither group used 'Palestine' as a marketing tool until after it became a common talking point in certain circles emanating out of the White House and in media outlets like the NY Times. Osama bin-laden and al-Qaeda didn't even mention 'Palestine' until years after 9/11 and ISIS was far more interested in Basher Assad and the corrupt, oppressive Shi'ite dictatorship we put in power in Iraq. For that matter, ISIS wasn't even particularly hostile to the US until President Obama started bombing them.

Any casual examination of history shows the fallacy of abandoning a loyal, powerful ally to appease an enemy, especially during wartime. Nor would it meaningfully improve relations between the US and the Arab world. The proof of that is to examine the US relationship with the Arab World before we became one of Israel's main allies in 1970, after the `67 Six-Day War. President Dwight Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles pursued a pro-Arab, cool to Israel policy as part of their Cold War strategy to keep the Soviets out of the Arab world. As even Eisenhower admitted, it failed utterly.

Getting rid of what the Muslim world refers to as the Little Satan would just weaken the Big Satan, America and deprive us of one of our strongest and most valuable allies. And a victory over the hated Jews would only embolden America's enemies.

Take Israel out of the equation and America would manage. So undoubtedly would Israel without America as an ally. But nothing would change except we would have weakened ourselves to the delight of our enemies.

-Selah-

Israel and China Expand Trade Agreements

Israel and China have again expanded trade protocols, the third expansion since 2012. Among other things, the deal insures lines of credit Israeli banks issue for Chinese companies purchasing Israeli goods that helps finance Israeli exports to China.

The new deal expands the protocol by $500 million (about 1.875 billion NIS). This is especially interesting as it was completed in spite of China losing $3 trillion in their recent stock market crash. China obviously has increased its appetite for Israeli products, mainly in the fields of health and medical devices, although education, transportation, communications, infrastructure and agriculture are also included.

“The third expansion of the financial protocol between Israel and China is a further measurement for tightening the relation between the two countries and indicates the success of the protocol in opening the Chinese market to Israeli companies,” Finance Ministry Accountant-General Michal Abadi-Boiangiu said.

“The policy of using state guarantees to support growth-generating targets is reflected in the expansion of the protocol, which will lead to the increase in the Israeli exports, thus benefiting employment, GDP and tax revenues,” she said.

This is seen as an important step towards a free trade agreement, something Israel's Economy Ministry is now negotiating with China. That agreement is expected to significantly boost trade between the two countries, now at over $6 billion per year.

The ministry’s Foreign Trade Administration already has the same number of trade attachés in China as in the United States.

Israel And China Sign New Agreement To Increase Trade, Cooperation

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Chinese Vice premier Liu Yandon signed a new agreement between China and Israel to increase ties, trade and economic cooperation.

The two gave a joint press conference today in Jerusalem:

Netanyahu began by welcoming Liu, and praising the "great success and growth of the Israeli-Chinese cooperation and relationship." He noted that the relationship continues to grow.

"A year ago, I visited China," he began. "I had excellent meetings with President Xi and Premier Li."

"We have expanded our cooperation in many ways," he continued. "China is Israel's largest trading partner in Asia and fast becoming perhaps Israel's largest trading partner period as we move into the future."

"We see the great success of China," he reflected. "We admire China and we think there are complementary things that Israel brings to this relationship. One of them is innovation."

Netanyahu then noted that the meeting is not only symbolic, but a practical move to sign an agreement increasing cooperation between China and Israel.

"What we're going to sign today is an agreement for expanding innovation in cooperative efforts between our two countries - and equally our Health Minister will sign an agreement to help advance our cooperation in times of emergencies," he said. "This is one of many, many things that we're doing together and I think the possibilities are limitless."

Vice Premier Liu Yandon, on her very first trip to Israel was equally enthusiastic in her remarks, and revealed an interesting personal connection to Israel and the Jewish people:

"I want to thank your government's gracious invitation for me to come to this beautiful country that has a time-honored history and beaming with vitality," she began. "And I also want to convey the best greetings from myself and the Chinese government through the media to the government and people of Israel."

"As you rightly pointed out, Mr. Prime Minister, our two peoples are rooted in a tradition of friendship," she continued. "The Jewish and the Chinese peoples are peoples of great wisdom. We bracket Asia and we respectively created our splendid cultures that stretch thousands of years of history. And we both made enormous contributions to human civilization. Yesterday afternoon I visited the Israel Museum and also the Old City of Jerusalem and I was so amazed at the beauty of this country."

Liu also added a historical aspect to Netanyahu's observations - specifically, the special role of Shanghai for the Jews during the Second World War.

"Especially during the Second World War, we fought shoulder to shoulder against the world's fascism and we stood together through the dark time," Liu stated. "I spent 18 years in Shanghai. Actually, everywhere in Shanghai people tell the good stories of harmonious coexistence between the Chinese people and Jewish people."

Liu has a particular connection to the Jewish community in Shanghai.

"I want to mention in particular here that in 1942, a Jewish doctor by the name of Jacob Rosenfeld came to a place in Shanghai where my father fought against the Japanese aggressors," she stated. "And Dr. Rosenfeld and his team members saved the lives of thousands of Chinese people. This is a group photo of Dr. Rosenfeld and this is my father here, and one of the founding generals of China, General Xin Yi, named Dr. Rosenfeld as one of the heroes against Japanese aggression. Unfortunately in 1952, when Dr. Rosenfeld visited Israel, he passed away. So when my father was around, he vowed to visit Israel and to see the hometown of Dr. Rosenfeld to express his appreciation, and his dream was realized by his daughter."

As President Obama's ambition of 'daylight' between America and Israel becomes more pronounced, Israel and China's relationship has warmed and the two countries have developed increasingly closer ties on trade, joint projects and security.

In many ways, the two countries are a natural fit. Israel's advances in irrigation, bio-science and technology and high tech are important to a country like China that is still a developing nation in many areas, and an oil and gas hungry China is also interested in Israel 's major energy resources. China is already Israel's chief trading partner in Asia as Netanyahu noted, and along with India can be expected to eclipse the EU as trade partners for Israel in the future. And the harbors and commercial railways Israel and China are now constructing linking Israel's Red Sea port of Eilat with its Mediterranean ports of Ashdod, Ashkelon and Haifa will change the nature of container shipping trade between Asia and the West, providing a cheaper and more stable alternative to the Suez Canal.

The two countries also share a number of cultural affinities as both Netanyahu and Liu mentioned, and security cooperation between two non-Muslim countries bracketed by restive Muslim populations is also a win for both nations.

Especially given the new, more pro-Israel government in India, look for the trend of Israel finding new best friends outside the U.S. to continue...yet another legacy of the Obama Regime.

The Day The Middle East Changed - Israel Starts Pumping It's Natural Gas

Today definitely marks a major change in the Middle East, as Israel's natural gas from the offshore Tamar field began flowing for the first time into the port of Ashdod. The gas came online months ahead of schedule.

The Tamar field was discovered in 2009 off the coast of  Haifa and holds an estimated 8.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.And that's just the beginning. The much larger Leviathan field is estimated to hold well over 16 trillion cubic feet of gas ( as well as 600 million plus barrels of oil)  and is expected to go online in 2016. Indications are that Leviathan will go online ahead of schedule as well.

And then, there's the substantial shale oil deposits Israel has discovered  near Beit Shamesh in a place  called the Shfela Basin. It contains an estimated 250 billion barrels of shale oil.



This is a game changer for a number of reasons.

Right now, Russia pretty much has a monopoly on gas sales to Europe, because it controls the pipelines from Central Asia. Part of the EU's hostility towards Israel involves the need to keep both Arab oil producers and Iran mollified, as well as their Russian sponsors.

Being able avoid Russian energy blackmail and buy directly from Israel at cheaper prices (because of the shorter transit difference) might very well change the anti-Israel tune of some EU members.Not to mention avoiding the political volatility of a number of oil producers in the Muslim world.

For that matter, since these new discoveries, Russia's tone towards Israel has warmed considerably. And that's even more true of energy hungry China, whose tone has always been relatively friendly and was only constrained by the need to placate Muslim oil producers. Both Russia's Gazprom and a number of Chinese companies have a role in Israel's energy development.

In fact, as I reported previously, China and Israel  have not only had top level conferences on joint security but have particularly warm commercial relations and are engaged in a number of joint development projects...including revamping Israel Red Sea port Eilat to handle major container traffic and building a commercial railway between Eilat and Israel's Mediterranean ports. The railroad is designed to bypass the Suez Canal and cut both the distance and expense for  shippers between Asia and the Mediterranean.

As an added bonus, Israel has conducted itself for years as a nation dependent on foreign energy, so conservation and alternatives like solar are well advanced. The new energy wealth will not only change the geopolitical climate but  add significantly to Israel's GDP.

A game changer indeed.

China and Israel Increasingly Seeking Closer Ties With Each Other

China's Commerce Minister Chen Deming was in Israel this week to sign a memorandum of understanding to promote commerce and cooperation between the Israel Export Institute and the Chinese Commerce Development institute.

It's a natural partnership in many ways. China is a developing nation, it has a surplus of investment funds as well as a growing domestic market, and Israeli high tech, entrepreneurship and innovation can provide the basis for a valuable partnership to both countries.

The recent joint project to build a new freight railroad through the Negev to link Israel's Red Sea port of Eilat with Israel's Mediterranean ports and save time and money bypassing the Suez canal is just one recent example.

There are also projects involving the creation of platforms for the implementation of Israeli technologies in China, collaboration in the fields of water and agriculture, where the Israelis are the world leaders, even the establishments of mutual joint high-tech funds.

According to the Israel Export Institute, trade between Israel and China reached some $6.8 billion in 2010, a 49% increase compared with 2009. China is Israel's second largest trading partner.

However Israeli exports to China (excluding diamonds) amounted to only 0.13% of China's total imports. So there's ample room for an increased market for Israel's products.


Part of Chen Deming's new MOU with Israel was to establish a joint schedule of meetings to work together on these items, and to exchange delegations back and forth.

The Chinese, of course, also have their eye on the major finds of oil and natural gas recently discovered in Israel.

There is no history of anti-semitism in China, and the two cultures ( the most ancient in the world) have a great deal of affinity...so business and cultural ties are increasing on both sides.

For instance,one of Beijing's largest universities is set to establish an Israeli economics and Judaism department, and other universities are already graduating classes of students in Hebrew language and culture:

China's University of International Business Economics (UIBE) has decided to offer its students the opportunity to study about the development of Israel's economy, high-tech, business culture, the economy's political aspect as well as about key figures in Israel's economic history.

The department will be headed by University President Shi Jianjun and Zhao Shu, who will serve as the department's secretary. "The Chinese are very impressed with Israel's economy and believe it's a model," Shu said.

Behind the initiative is Israel's chamber of commerce in Beijing. "One of the goals is to strengthen trade between Israel and China," said General Manager Fani Gurevich.

Additional proof of the interest the Chinese take in Israel – at the University for Foreign Affairs in Beijing the first class of 16 students has completed studies in Hebrew language and culture. Another 40 students are currently studying Hebrew at the university, while another dozen or so learn Hebrew in other Chinese universities.

Ron Peleg, spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Beijing said, "The more Israel is relevant to the Chinese market, the more interest there is in learning Hebrew."

Barring something unexpected happening, look for these ties to increase..especially if President Obama is re-elected.

Israel And China Sign Major Strategic Agreement

I've mentioned before that as the Obama Administration has distanced itself from Israel, the Jewish State has been seeking new friends elsewhere.

Once country Israel has had increasingly cordial relations with is China. Business ties are extensive, culturally there is a good deal of affinity and China is a country without historic anti-semitism.

The two countries just signed an historic cooperation agreement that amounts to strategic insurance for Israel. It involves a joint venture to build a number of multi-billion dollar projects, including a major rail line from the Israeli Mediterranean ports of Ashkelon and Haifa to the Israeli Red Sea port of Eilat, along with an inland canal port north of Eilat.

The project will allow commercial shipping to detour around the Suez canal from the Mediterranean Sea to major sea lanes in the Indian Ocean and to ports of call in eastern Africa and southern Asia..including China:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared the Eilat railway a national priority project, because of its strategic and policy importance. Israeli sources told "Globes" that the Chinese also consider the project to be important, as it fits in with China's global strategy to strengthen critical trade routes. The 180-kilometer line will run through the Arava Valley and Nahal Zinn. Netanyahu wants to cut travel time between Tel Aviv and Eilat to two hours.

It will be a major trade boost as cargoes from Asia will be able to dock in Eilat's state of the art port facilities and ship container cargo via the rail link directly to the Mediterranean and Europe and vice versa, eliminating time and expense and the uncertainties of dealing with a Muslim Brotherhood owned Suez Canal. And the railway will be a huge engine for increased development of Israel's Negev.

For the Israelis, aside from the obvious economic benefits, the strategic value is incalculable. The Suez Canal is taken out of the equation if Egypt decides to ignore international law again and stop Israeli ships from using the international waterway. It also might give the Egyptians pause if they decide to renege on the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt that declared that the Straits of Tiran, the vital waterway between the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea were international waters open to international shipping. Nasser's blockading of the Straits was one of the direct causes of the Six Day War.

The Chinese have proposed financing part of the cost through the government-owned China Development Industrial Bank, while Israel will handle the project's operations. Chinese companies are expected to receive much of the construction contracts involved.

The Chinese, of course, also have their eye on the major finds of oil and natural gas recently discovered in Israel. As I also predicted previously, Israel's becoming an energy exporter is going to change the geopolitical facts on the ground for Israel fairly rapidly.

Israeli Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz and China's Minister of Transport Li Shenglin signed the memorandum of understanding in Beijing, followed by a banquet in the Israeli delegation's honor. The Chinese took special care to ensure that the food at the banquet was kosher.

That's a marked contrast to the way President Obama treated Israeli PM Netanyahu in Washington.

Israeli PM Netanyahu Wishes The Chinese People A Happy New Year

Believe it or not, the most popular video on YouTube this week, with over 40 million hits and climbing.

( hat tip, Carl)

China's Chief Of Staff Visits Israel To Discuss Strategic, Military Cooperation

This is one of those important stories you won't see reported on much.

General Chen Bingde, Chief of General Staff of the People's Liberation Army of China arrived in Israel on an official 3 day visit to discuss military cooperation between the two countries.

General Bingde's position is equivalent to the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and this is the first time a Chinese officer of that rank has ever visited Israel.He was received with full honors upon his arrival and came at the invitation of IDF Chief of Staff Benny Ganz. His visit will include conferences with Ganz, Israeli defense Minister Ehud Barak, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel military figures as well as a visit of the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem and a visit to a military base in the Negev.

This is not the first high level meeting between Israeli and Chinese military figures. In 2010, an Israeli military delegation visited China for an extended visit and in May, 2011 Barak and Israeli Navy Commander Admiral Eliezer Merom met with Admiral Wu Shengli, the head of the Chinese Navy.

In his public remarks, General Bingde said that the development of Sino-Israeli cooperation in the defense sector will contribute to strengthening peace and stability in the Middle East. Barak, in response said that China and Israel must work together to counter the different threats and challenges facing the two countries.

I predicted about two and a half years ago when the Obama Administration's assault on America and Israel's alliance was getting underway that Israel might very well increase its ties with China. The two countries already have significant trade agreements, and in many ways are a natural fit.

While China currently backs countries like Iran and the Sudan in the UN, this is basically a matter of protecting oil and gas sources for its expanding economy. In fact China's press coverage of Israel is fairly balanced and the overall image of Israel in China is relatively good.Unlike Russia and the EU, there has never been any history of anti-Semitism in China and the two cultures share a number of attributes.

The Chinese have a huge need for what Israel has to sell, electronic, medical, agricultural and industrial technology and expertise as well as military hardware. And as trade with certain countries in the EU becomes more problematical because of active attempts to boycott Israeli products and restive Muslim populations, countries like China and India with large populations and expanding economies represent major new markets for Israel. And the Chinese are also not unaware of the huge discoveries of oil and natural gas in Israel that are scheduled to begin producing in a year or so.

Aside from markets, the Israelis stand to gain a relationship with a rising power as leverage against an increasingly the untrustworthy and anti-Israel Obama administration in Washington. Based on what's occurred since President Obama took office, you can hardly blame them.

During the Cold War, Israel threw the Soviets out of the Middle East without a single US soldier having to be based there. This time, they're hedging their bets.

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Israel And China Sign New Agricultural, Trade Agreements

In a development quite appropriate for the upcoming Sukkot holiday, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and the governor of China's Heilongjiang Province, Mr. Du Jiahao, signed an agricultural cooperation agreement on behalf of Israel and the Chinese government.

The agreement will see the two countries cooperating in terms of assistance in constructing demonstration dairy farms. Israel and the Heilongjiang Province already have extensive agricultural agreements.

During the meeting Ayalon stressed the special relationship between Israel and China, and stated that their friendship is “based on the fact that they are both ancient cultures with historic awareness.” He added that Israel and China’s economies “complement each other. Israel has advanced technology suited to the developing Chinese market and experience in fields that top the Chinese national agenda, such as agriculture and technology.”

Governor Du Jiahao thanked Ayalon for the warm hospitality and added that he was very impressed by Israel. He said that he intends to erect a monument of Jerusalem stone in memory of the Jews who found refuge in Heilongjiang Province during the White Revolution. During that time period, Heilongjiang’s capital, Harbin, provided refuge to tens of thousands of Jews who fled from Russia.

China and Israel have increased their trade relations over the years,mostly in the fields of high tech, telecommunications, agricultural technology ( the Israelis are world leaders in irrigation technology, for example, and bio-medical products.As of 2007, the trade between the two countries had surpassed $4 billion and Israel has a number of trade offices located in China.

I would expect that Israel's trade with China's growing economy is something that is going to increase, especially as Israeli trade with Europe decreases.

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Israel May Be Seeking A New Best Friend

The Obama Administration has made it crystal clear that they regard Israel as a problem rather than the loyal ally it's been since the Nixon Administration.

Some very influential Israelis are thinking ahead and saying that it's time Israel had a new best friend. No less than Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's presumptive foreign minister has said that Israel's ties with Russia "must rise to the level of a strategic partnership" :

Relations between Russia and Israel must and can rise to a level of strategic partnership, said Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the Israel is Our Home party and a future member of Israel's new coalition government in an interview with Interfax.

"I've been saying all along that relations between Israel and Russia must rise to a level of strategic partnership. This is even more relevant today, then previously," Lieberman said.

The Israel is Our Home party won the third largest number of votes in the parliamentary elections and it is involved in the talks on the formation of Israel's new government.

"However paradoxical it may seem, the global economic crisis gives Israel new opportunities to reach the Russian market, after many of the Western companies abandoned it," the Israeli politician said.

Lieberman, who co-chaired the Russian-Israeli intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation in 2003-04, said that, the two countries have accomplished "a real breakthrough" in this area, but the potential is far from being exhausted.

The same refers to military-technical cooperation between Israel and Russia, he said.

"Israel has quite a few things to offer Russia in this sector - from the electronic stuffing for fighter jets to drones," Lieberman said.

Could it happen? Possibly. Russia, after all does not really need oil and gas, which is what Iran and the Arabs have to sell. And as the price of oil goes down, countries like Iran have less money to buy what Russia has on offer. And while it's not evident yet, there could be significant conflicts in the future between Russia and Turkey, who are traditional antagonists and Russia and Iran, as the three countries attempt to expand their influence into the gas and oil regions in the old Soviet empire in central Asia.

On the other hand Russia does have a definite need for Israeli high tech, especially when it comes to industrial and defense applications.And the Israelis look like they're definitely thinking along those lines, especially if the Obama Administration continues to alienate them, as seems likely. In that case, the US would need to station significant naval and air forces somewhere in the region ( probably in the Emirates) to protect our interests there, as well as somewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean to guard NATO's southern flank, along with a significant number of troops...the cost of which would make the aid we currently give Israel look like a pittance in comparison.

Another Israeli friend in the making appears to be India, the world's largest democracy, and another US ally the Obama Administration has already offended by attempting to stick its nose into Kashmir and by its outreach to Pakistan and the Muslim world. Like Israel, India is a non-Muslim democracy threatened by a neighboring Islamic presence. India has a long history of welcoming Israeli tourists (which is why there was a Chabad center in Mumbai). The two countries have significant trade and the Israeli and Indian militaries have exchanges attaches and even done a few military exercises together at various times. India's latest spy satellite was purchased from Israel, a transaction that should definite boost the security ties between the two countries.

Another country Israel may develop closer ties with is China. While China currently backs countries like Iran and the Sudan in the UN, this is basically a matter of protecting oil and gas sources for its expanding economy rather than any real affinity. In fact China's press coverage of Israel is fairly balanced and the overall image of Israel in China is relatively good.

And China has its own problem with restive Muslims, the Uighers in the west of the country.

While China needs what Iran and the Arabs have to sell, it also has a need for Israeli electronic, agricultural and industrial technology and expertise. The chief friction between China and Israel came some time ago, when the US forced Israel to renege on a contract they had to supply China with delivery of Falcon intelligence planes back in 2000 the US felt had been developed as part of a joint venture. While the Israelis complained (correctly, as it turned out) that this was pressure from Washington designed simply to allow an American company to obtain the contract, they pulled out of the deal, something the Chinese were quite upset about at the time. In an environment where the US-Israeli relationship is not as close as it was, this would no longer present a problem.

It may sound odd, but the loss of the American alliance with Israel might end up affecting the US more than Israel. Hopefully it won't come to that, although the present climate in Washington towards Israel is far from friendly.