Political sources in Tel Aviv revealed that CIA director Willian Burns reportedly raised US concerns over increasing Chinese investment and involvement in Israel - particularly its tech sector - during his meeting last week with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Jerusalem.
US officials have warned against Chinese investments in Israeli tech firms and involvement in Israel’s infrastructure, especially a Chinese company’s work at Haifa’s port.
For this, the US Navy threatened to stop docking in Haifa if the Chinese presence continues there.
Bennett told Burns that Israel understands the US concerns and shares some of them. As an example, he mentioned recent press reports about a wide-ranging Chinese cyberattack against Israeli tech companies two years ago.
“In recent months, we started a dialogue with the Biden administration on China. The US asked about specific projects like the Chinese involvement in the Tel Aviv metro,” Walla news quoted a senior Israeli official as saying.
“We told the Americans we welcome US infrastructure companies to work on big projects in Israel, but they haven’t been applying for the tenders.”
Meanwhile, at a Senate hearing last week, officials from the State Department and Defense Department said the Biden administration had warned its partners in the Middle East that China wasn’t interested in their security needs or regional stability and that further Chinese involvement could eventually compromise their sovereignty and security relationships with the US.
“We know our partners and allies in the Middle East have trade relations with China and that’s okay, but we made it clear that there is a certain kind of cooperation with China we cannot live with," they added.
Israeli officials expect more talks on this issue with the White House in the coming months. US President Joe Biden is scheduled to welcome Bennet at the White House next Thursday.
