Biden administration ups pressure on Israel to crack down on China

• Author: YAAKOV KATZ
• Published date: 07 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The American officials encouraged Israel to establish a more robust screening system for foreign investments.

Senior Israeli defense officials have also recommended that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett establish a new committee to oversee foreign investments in Israel, in light of China's numerous bids on Israeli infrastructure and technology.

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The new committee, which the officials have suggested be led by the prime minister, would replace an existing committee that falls under the Finance Ministry, but is voluntary and does not cover core areas in which China invests.

The Prime Minister's Office has yet to make a decision on the matter, but the recommendation comes as the government continues to stall on announcing the winner of the tender to build the Tel Aviv Light Rail's new Green and Purple Lines. The NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System, the government-funded company responsible for the design and construction of the transit system, has been dragging its feet in making a final decision.

Earlier this week, Egged, Israel's largest transit company, announced the winners of a tender to buy 200 electric buses in April. All three companies that won would be supplying buses made in China.

The officials who have recommended the establishment of the new committee include top officers in the IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) who are concerned over two possible consequences of the continued Chinese penetration of Israel's economy.

The first concern is that if China continues to win tenders and build infrastructure, Jerusalem's ties with Washington will fray and lead to tension with Israel's most important ally. The second concern is that China could use the infrastructure for espionage activities inside and against Israel.

The winner of the Tel Aviv Light Rail tender was originally scheduled to be announced in June.

Most of the groups competing for the multibillion-dollar deal include Chinese companies. While the government officially says it has not opened the envelopes to review the bids, a source with knowledge of the matter said the government contacted one of the groups to ask why its price was so much lower than the others.

One of them includes the China Railway Construction Company. One of its subsidiaries, the China Civil Engineering Construction Corp., dug the Gilon Tunnel in the North in 2014 at a cost...