A dragon dance in the Negev (Sino-Israel ties)

[amoy]

Asia Times Online :: A dragon dance in the Negev
By M K Bhadrakumar

excerpts

China's Middle East diplomacy is adroitly advancing three parallel tracks engaging Iran, GCC states and Israel. This may seem improbable against the backdrop of the rise of Iran and the concomitant hostility it arouses in Israel and the GCC states. But Beijing sees no contradiction here, and is striving to make the three tracks even complement each other. Conceivably, one day they well might.

The great beauty is that all three Middle Eastern camps - Iran, the GCC and Israel - equally want the best of relationships with China and are manifestly vying with each other for the dragon's prime time. This is going to pose an unsolvable riddle for other outside powers aspiring for influence in the region, be it the West or Turkey and Russia.

Netanyahu said, "I appreciate China's need to ensure a regular supply of sources of energy in order to continue its impressive growth. I believe it is possible to replace Iranian oil." He still hopes to wean China away from Iranian oil, although Beijing has no intentions to erode its economic relationship with Iran. China-Iran trade is booming at US$45 billion - as compared to $8 billion China-Israel trade.

'Junction between continents'
Nonetheless, Israel is making an offer out of the massive oil and gas reserves in the Levant Basin province in the eastern Mediterranean. The area, encompassing approximately 32,000 square miles, covers onshore and offshore territory including the Gaza Strip, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus. The US Geological Survey estimated in 2010 that the area holds a mean of 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and a mean of 122 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of recoverable gas.

The earlier estimation was that these reserves would ensure Israel's energy security, but more recent assessment in the light of new findings of reserves is that they are far greater than required to meet Israel's needs.

Huge infrastructure development is on the cards including liquefaction facilities to be set up on Israel's coast and transportation routes leading to viable markets for Israel's energy export. These alluring vistas of cooperation explain Netanyahu's confidence that Israel's bilateral trade with China can be easily doubled in the very near future. (China already figures as Israel's third important trading partner after the US and European Union.)

Israeli Transport Minister Yisrael Katz visited Beijing in September and he has been quoted recently as saying, "The professional capability of the Chinese companies in the construction of railway systems and transportation networks is among the best in the world."

The Israeli Transport Ministry has underscored that Israel would prefer Chinese state-owned companies to undertake the construction of a so-called "Med-Red" railway through the Negev Desert's Zin Valley connecting Israel's Mediterranean and Red Sea coast cities of Haifa and Eilat.

Swiftly following up on Katz's discussions in Beijing, China began working on a joint proposal with Israel for the Eilat link. Chinese and Israeli companies may jointly execute the project and, conceivably, China may invest in the project.

Now, the two biggest Israeli gas finds - Leviathan and Tamar - lie off 130 and 80 kilometers from the port city of Haifa. While Leviathan is estimated to hold reserves of 16 tcf of gas, Tamar's reserves amount to at least 8.4 tcf. (Recently, two more gas fields - Sarah and Mira - were discovered off the port city of Hadera further south of Haifa.)

The proposed rail-cum-road links would facilitate transfer of liquefied natural gas from Israel's Mediterranean coast to the Red Sea coast from where they can be shipped across the Indian Ocean to China. Again, the communication link would enhance the scope for China's exports to central and southern Europe and the Balkans.

The relationship between China and Israel has been complex. It has had its ups and downs. But the Israeli Foreign Ministry is justified in claiming in a statement last week that the two countries are presently "enjoying a flowering of relations in recent years".

Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar was a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service. His assignments included the Soviet Union, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Turkey.

 

[amoy]

Israel, China agree to build Eilat railway - Globes
3 July 12 14:30,

Transport Minister Yisrael Katz and China's Minister of Transport Li Shenglin signed the memorandum of understanding in Beijing.

Israel and China today signed historic cooperation agreements to build the Eilat railway and future projects, including the inland canal port north of Eilat. Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz and China's Minister of Transport Li Shenglin signed the memorandum of understanding in Beijing.

Katz departed for a three-day visit to China at the head of a 12-member delegation of ministry officials and executives of government companies. The main project on the agenda is construction of a cargo rail line that will link Israel's Mediterranean ports in Ashdod and Haifa with the Eilat Port. There are also plans to extend the line to Jordan's Aqaba Port.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared the Eilat railway a national priority project, because of its strategic and policy importance. Israeli sources told "Globes" that the Chinese also consider the project to be important, as it fits in with China's global strategy to strengthen critical trade routes. The 180-kilometer line will run through the Arava Valley and Nahal Zinn. Netanyahu wants to cut travel time between Tel Aviv and Eilat to two hours.

The estimated cost of the line is at least NIS 20 billion. In talks with the Chinese, they proposed financing part of the cost through the government-owned China Development Industrial Bank, and that Israel handle the project's operations.

Israel is considering awarding construction of the project to Chinese companies, because of their rapid work, and is therefore considering a government-to-government agreement to bypass the Tenders Law in awarding the franchise. A cabinet decision from February instructed Prime Minister's Office director general Harel Locker to recommend to the government ways of financing the project.

Tonight, the Israeli delegation will be guests at a special dinner given by the Chinese government. The food will be kosher lemehadrin, in part because delegation member Shaul Bitterman who represents Chinese companies in Israel is an Orthodox Jew.