WarSclerotic

In another sign of the growing ties between Israel and China, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz will make a historic visit to Beijing next week for high-level talks with the Chinese defense establishment.

Gantz will leave Israel Saturday night. He will be the guest of Chief of General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Gen. Chen Bingde who visited Israel last August. It was the first time that a Chinese military chief visited Israel.

During the trip, Gantz will meet with senior Chinese military officers and visit a number of bases. The visit was approved by Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Israel has also updated the United States.

Last June, Barak visited China in what was the first visit of an Israeli defense minister to the country in a decade.

Since 2010, Israel has significantly upgraded its defense contacts with China after they had been downgraded due to American pressure which banned Israeli companies from selling weaponry to the Chinese military.

In 2000, Barak – then prime minister – caved to United States pressure and suspended the sale of four $250 million advanced early warning Phalcon aircraft to China due to concerns that they were installed with American technology.

In 2005, Israeli-US defense ties hit rock bottom after Israel agreed to upgrade Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) drones that were sold to Beijing in the 1990s. As a result, the US downgraded Israel’s participation in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program.

Despite the warming in ties, a ban on arms sales is still in effect. Israel’s interest in the ties is part of an effort to strengthen its influence in the Far East and to try and push Beijing to cut off its economic ties with Iran. While China would like to buy Israeli technology, it is also interested in learning from the IDF’s recent experiences on the battlefield particularly regarding doctrine and training.