The fact that Middle Eastern countries' relationships with China are complicated has been a recurring theme throughout this show. Nothing is as simple as the headlines would have us believe. The Sino-Israeli relationship is particularly complex. Dense economic ties must be balanced against Israel's deeper and far more important ties with the US. While China does a lot of business with Israel, its international support for Palestine limits its political cooperation with the Jewish state. Assaf Orion, a senior researcher at the Institute of National Security Studies and the Director of the Diane and Guilford Glazer Israel China Policy Center in Tel-Aviv, Israel, joins us on today's podcast. He will speak with us about the dynamics of the China-Israel relationship and how it affects Israel as a state, as well as its neighbors and the Israel-Palestine relationship.

Takeaways
Overview of the Israel-China bilateral relationship
Israel’s perspective of the Belt and Road Initiative of China
The issue of Port of Haifa regarding the power struggle in the region
China meddling in Israeli domestic affairs as well as the Israel-Palestine relationship
Israel's perspective on China's MENA strategy

Quotes
China has started the Global Development Initiative which is a non-BRI, which tells us that BRI has been less successful - Assaf

China is not a security guarantor in the Middle East yet China is an interesting business and infrastructure partner. - Assaf

Featured in this Episode
Jonathan Fulton
Nonresident Senior Fellow for Middle East Programs at the Atlantic Council. Assistant Professor of Political Science at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi
Profile: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/jonathan-fulton/
Linkedin: https://ae.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-fulton-2627414b
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonathandfulton

Assaf Orion
Director, Diane & Guilford Glazer Israel-China Policy Center
Israel’s Institute For National Security Studies (INSS)
Linkedin: https://il.linkedin.com/in/assaf-orion-1b8274104
Website: https://www.inss.org.il/

Published Article mentioned in the show
No, Israel Isn't Falling Into China's Orbit
https://www.inss.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/No-Israel-Isnt-Falling-Into-Chinas-Orbit-Assaf-Orion-Mosaic-for-site.pdf

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:53 Overview of Israel-China bilateral relationship
09:02 China-Israel relationship, is it cooling down?
16:01 The BRI as a medium for Israel to connect with its neighboring countries
24:44 The port of Haifa linking to different Chinese-managed ports
31:03 China engaging in Israel’s domestic politics
36:58 Thoughts on China being a mediator between Israel and Palestine
42:53 Israel’s thoughts on China’s approach in the MENA region
50:20 Articles and resources

This podcast was produced by Heartcast Media.
https://www.heartcastmedia.com

China-Israel Relations

CHINA-MENA