CIA Director William Burns has warned Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett of the dangers of Chinese investments in Israel, particularly in the IT sector and major infrastructure projects, the American Axios news website revealed yesterday.
During Trump’s administration, the US warned that further Chinese involvement in big infrastructure projects, like the new port in Haifa, could damage the US-Israel security relationship, but, according to Axios, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government prioritized going ahead with the projects.
CIA chief raises concerns to #Israel over #China
▪️During his meeting with Israeli PM Naftali Bennett last week, CIA director Bill Burns raised #US concerns over increasing Chinese investment and involvement in Israel, particularly in its tech and infrastructure sectors. pic.twitter.com/wVdv9oDv5g
— EHA News (@eha_news) August 19, 2021
Current Israeli Prime Minister Bennett told Burns that Israel understands the American concerns, Axios reported.
A senior Israel official told Axios that Israel “started a dialogue with the Biden administration on China.”
Israel is being forced to choose between America and China : One is its strongest ally, the other offers investment and tradehttps://t.co/UlhlM1ULyN
— A. Mete Çakmakcı (@cakmakci) August 16, 2021
Meanwhile, the US State Department’s Mira Resnick was reported saying: “We know our partners and allies in the Middle East have trade relations with China and that’s OK, … but we made it clear that there is a certain kind of cooperation with China we cannot live with.”
Israel is expected to hold more talks with the US on the issue in the coming months.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
