Chinese investment in Haifa port could compromise US-Israel intelligence sharing

A pro-Israel think tank expressed concern over Chinese investment in Israel, including proximity of Chinese company to US Sixth Fleet in Haifa.

Chinese investments and infrastructure developments in Israel could undermine the US-Israel strategic relationship, according to a report by Washington think tank Jewish Institute for National Security of America (Jinsa) published on Monday.

China's role in Israel has been a concern for the US. Last year, then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Israeli officials to cease Chinese investments and partnerships in the country, claiming that it put “Israeli citizens at risk” and compromised intelligence sharing, communications and security issues between the US and Israel.

Jinsa’s report, titled “Curtailing Chinese Investment in Israel: A Comprehensive and Cooperative US-Israeli Strategy,” said the US was set to assist its allies to block Chinese investments as part of its 21st century national and economical grand strategy to tackle China’s influence in the Middle East and beyond.

The most pressing point for the report’ authors - former US Chief of Naval Operations Jonathan Greenert and former Commander of the US 7th Fleet John Bird - is China’s investment in Israel's Port of Haifa on the Mediterranean Sea.

In June 2019, the Israeli city of Haifa defied US pressure and signed a 25-year contract with Chinese company Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) to build and operate a large shipping seaport on the Mediterranean. Set to begin operations in 2021, Israel recouped $290m for its privatisation.

US authorities have expressed concerns that the Chinese company would be operating close to where US Sixth Fleet ships dock and could potentially collect intelligence, but the contract moved forward anyway.

According to the report by the pro-Israel think tank, China is aiming to fuel and expand its own military and industrial influence by buying and investing in Israeli technology.

"Beijing’s strategy seeks to turn economic power into geopolitical dominance and civilian technology into a military advantage," the two admirals wrote.

Put in at the Port of Haifa for a ten day mainenance availability in April, 1992 immediately after a 4-month Red Sea MEF deployment enforcing trade restrictions on Hussein’s Iraq under the UN Oil for Food program. The region had had significant snow that winter. As a result, the Jordan was overflowing that spring, nothing ominous, just a few feet into flood conditions, but extremely unusual. The Jordan, which flows entirely below sea level and eventually drains into the Dead Sea, typically flowed at a relative trickle. Israel was in full bloom during Passover, and was glorious for our visit. Israelis treated U.S. sailors magnificently, showing great interest in our presence and mission while inherently knowing which questions to ask and which refrain from asking. When on liberty, took respective day tours to Jerusalem, Lake Gennesseret (Sea of Galilee), and Nazareth. Missed out on a Dead Sea tour unfortunately. Will never forget those days.

They are probably thinking China is a safer bet than a feckless democrat run America.

Nope. This all happened under the Trump administration ---by Netanyahu.

Breaking China: A rupture looms between Israel and the United States --- June 2, 2020

The biggest deal Israel has signed with a Chinese company was in December: The Shanghai International Port Group, or SIPG, is to build and operate a port in Haifa for 25 years. The agreement followed years of negotiations.

The Trump administration wants controls in place to limit Chinese malfeasance, if not a complete abrogation of the deal. Breaking the contract is unlikely, as Israel does not want to risk alienating its trade relationship with China. Those ties, according to an analysis last year by the Rand Corp., a think tank that advises the Pentagon, was worth $8 billion in Chinese exports to Israel and $3 billion in Israeli exports to China in 2016.

Netanyahu has made his cultivation of ties with China a feather in his cap, and China has already warned Israel against acquiescing to “U.S. bullying.”

SIPG’s control of the port allows the Chinese intelligence-gathering proximity to Israeli naval bases, and to information that flows from the port, as well as the ability to frustrate access in an emergency.

“Ports are high-tech,” Gary Roughead, a retired U.S. Navy admiral who last year co-authored with Feith a Hudson Institute report on U.S.-Israel cooperation in the eastern Mediterranean, said in an interview. Port operators “have control systems and the data that goes with it.”

Roughead said that could give China eyes into Israeli-U.S. communications and, more broadly, into Israel’s military, which would raise concerns for its allies.

“It would be important to know, do [Israel’s] security services have access to the port to monitor for the capabilities that are focused on your naval base, is that allowed, or does Shanghai say, ‘No, you can’t sweep the port, or peer into the types of activity or intercept the communications,’” he said.

Other concerns Roughead noted: U.S. military vessels that stop in Haifa for servicing and whether China would be able to intervene in U.S. assistance to Israel during a military crisis.

Feith said that Israeli officials have endeavored to reassure Americans that they have checks in place at the port, but the Americans remain wary.

Shaul Chorev, a retired rear admiral in the Israeli Navy and a co-author with Feith and Roughead of the Hudson Institute report, said the port deal was a mistake on national security grounds, but Israel was not about to substantially retreat.

“If Israel goes to China and says let’s roll back, we will lose face, we will lose our economic relations,” said Chorev, who directs the Haifa Research Center for Maritime Policy and Strategy.

Until around 2018, few in Israel or the United States saw this crisis coming. Dealing with China, with its deep pockets and resources, had been a no-brainer across the planet for years. Its Belt and Road initiative, bringing infrastructure on the cheap to developing countries, is transforming Africa.

But then some critics began to claim that Chinese information technology companies were allowing China’s government to spy on countries that use their cellular technology. And Beijing also began facing claims that it was using Belt and Road to squeeze diplomatic concessions from participating countries. In 2018, Trump administration officials began to aggressively warn allies against deals with China. Lawmakers from both parties have issued similar warnings.

More: https://www.jta.org/2020/06/02/politics/breaking-china-a-rupture-looms-between-israel-and-the-united-states

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