It is clear, then, that in the decade that preceded the «judicial coup» the governments of Netanyahu worked to integrate into the Chinese global project «The Belt and Road»; however, only after Western heads of state and military moved to limit China’s control over strategic infrastructure in Israel, did Netanyahu initiate a «coup court» combined with an economic method that would secure his rule through Chinese funding, free of democratic procedures such as transparency, competition, equal opportunities and judicial control in matters of financing.
By Dr. Amir Yuval – 04/06/23
Traduction: Oded Balaban
Published “The Times of Israel”
In a place where the US president sends messengers and messages, and the military is divided into air, cyber, and peripheral armies, and the military elite rolls up their sleeves and declares, «It won’t happen!», one can find more and more signs that the » judicial coup » in Israel is part of the rise of a new world order. Crucially, democracies adjust policies to prevent Chinese investment in big business from becoming a debt trap and lobbying levers to change the regime’s laws and system.
“The war in Ukraine and the increase in competition between the United States and China have exacerbated the value gaps in the international arena, on the one hand there are the countries that share a liberal worldview (essential democracy) […] and on the other hand the countries that maintain autocratic regimes […] and without substantial submission to the rule of law. […] This is a war, because behind it there are not only economic interests but also national security tensions».
These issues are discussed in the document «Strategic Assessment for Israel 2023» from the Institute for National Security Studies, which was published in January this year, close to the government’s presentation and publication of the » judicial coup » plan.
A policy paper titled: » Beneficial Relations, Patronage Political Corruption Under Orban’s China Policy», published in June 2022, found that expanding China’s and Russia’s economic and political role in Europe provides a more favorable environment. to withdraw from democratization and, on the other hand, the prosperity of authoritarianism naturally helps Chinese influence in Hungary.
Discrimination policy is very prominent within the expansion of Sino-Hungarian joint projects and provided business opportunities for the government’s patronage network. China finances megaprojects that launder the transfer of capital to construction companies belonging to relatives or associates of politicians, in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, to finance those who look after the interests of the Chinese government:
“Corruption is higher in bids won by firms close to the government […]. The government refused to provide the names of the subcontractors who won the bids on the grounds that it cannot provide information without the consent of the Chinese government […]. Despite the court’s decision in 2021 that the government must disclose the details of the loan agreements, the government has yet to do so.»
Is this a systematic plan to design a world regime that fits the Chinese model? The «New Maritime Silk Road» university institute deals with the training of officials and foreign officers financed by the Chinese government.
The vice president of the institute quoted the president of China as saying:
«China is building a global community that shares the same vision and the same interests,» adding that it expects the project partners to make very specific ideological decisions, such as banning pro-democracy movements from existing. «The project will present a new model to the world. We are ready to accept it,» said one of the foreign officers who participated in the course.
In 2013, the Chinese government announced the «Belt and Road Initiative» (BRI – The Belt and Road Initiative). The «Belt» is a complicated network of highways and railways that connect China with Europe through Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The «highway» is a seaway, one route of which runs through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez to the port of Pireus , which was sold to China in 2016, as part of the effort to get out of the economic crisis.
Between Suez and Piraeus are, among others, Eilat, Ramat Hovav, Ashdod, Palmachim, Tel-Aviv, Haifa, Acre and Karmiel; within the limits of each of these cities, the Chinese government invested or offered cooperation in major construction. and infrastructure projects – ports, railways, tunnels and water desalination.
On his second visit to China, in March 2017, Benjamin Netanyahu told the heads of big corporations:
«We are the perfect little companion for you . I think this is a heavenly match .» But it turned out that «former Pentagon and Navy officials… believe Israel went crazy when it gave the Chinese the keys to the port of Haifa.»
The threat to Western strategic interests led to the application of pressure by the Trump administration, which prevented China from participating in the Palmahim desalination plant and the Ramat Hovav power plant (the power plant operates alongside the Makhteshim Agan plant). that China bought in 2011).
Furthermore, under government pressure, the government established a mechanism to monitor foreign investment in Israel, but did not enshrine the monitoring mechanism and its powers in law. The fact that since 2017 the government has avoided enshrining in legislation the supervision of foreign investments related to national security, arouses astonishment in the legislative race of the laws of the “coup regime”. This race brings Israel closer to «China, which is building a global community that shares the same vision and the same interests,» as President Xi Jinping put it.
In this context, it is necessary to examine Netanyahu’s announcement in the 37th government’s introductory speech to the Knesset, about three «national» tasks that he defined as «supertasks.» The second task between the two is infrastructure development:
«And listen carefully, smile and remember…to develop a lightning train that will connect the country from Kiryat Shmona in the north to Eilat in the south.»
It turns out that the lightning train is just one link in the continuation of another “lightning train” that China is dedicated to building, from Piraeus to the heart of Europe:
«The most expensive railway development project in Hungarian history will connect Western Europe with the Chinese-controlled port of Piraeus with the aim of speeding up the transport of Chinese goods to the European Union. This is a purely political undertaking. The Chinese Communist Party completely bought out the Hungarian ruling elite and forced the country (with loans) for a hundred years» («Payable Relations, Patronage Political Corruption in the Framework of Orban’s China Policy» p. 22).
The fact that, since 2017, the government has refrained from enshrining in law the supervision of foreign investments in the field of national security, arouses astonishment at the legislative race of the «judicial coup», which brings Israel closer to China, according to Xi Jinping.
In 2012, an agreement was signed «allowing for the participation of the Israeli and Chinese governments in transportation projects in both countries.» The agreement led to negotiations between the governments on the financing and construction of the railway to Eilat.
In a comprehensive analysis of the transport and infrastructure agreement between Israel and China, compiled by Ephraim Halevi and published by the «Shasha Center for Strategic Studies», it is written : «China’s considerations regarding its investments in railways are not purely economic. […] The Chinese dominance in the construction of the railway line and its management requires a large amount of Chinese dominance, although not the same, in the operation of the port of Eilat […] There is nothing in all of the above that disqualifies promoting economic and trade relations with China, but there is something that disqualifies any move that leads to Chinese control of a strategic transportation artery in Israel.»
It is important to emphasize that even if China does not openly participate in the construction or financing of the track, the eastern freight train will become a commercial asset for China, or in Halevi’s formulation: what is the meaning of the concept of » secure trade routes» used by Chinese speakers?
It is clear, then, that in the decade that preceded the «judicial coup» the governments of Netanyahu worked to integrate into the Chinese global project «The Belt and Road»; however, only after Western heads of state and military moved to limit China’s control over strategic infrastructure in Israel, did Netanyahu initiate a «coup court» combined with an economic method that would secure his rule through Chinese funding, free of democratic procedures such as transparency, competition, equal opportunities and judicial control in matters of financing, bidding and budget distribution.
Only after Western heads of state and militaries moved to limit China’s control over Israel’s strategic infrastructures did Netanyahu initiate a » judicial coup » combined with an economic method to ensure his Chinese-funded government free of democratic procedures.
Chinese funding can secure Netanyahu’s government from abroad, while discriminatory sector budgeting will ensure support from within.
In the first decade of the «Belt and Road» project, under the auspices of the economic crisis and the regime, for example, China bought 67% of the Pireus Port Authority in 2016, while after the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Halevi points out that there was an increase of about 30% in China’s trade and investment volumes in Egypt at the same time as capital and investment flight.
In these circumstances, wouldn’t the establishment of a seaport in Gaza financed and managed by the European Union be a strategic asset for Israel?
Understanding the regime revolution in correlation with the rupture of the economic structure and with the structure of global alliances, reveals the logic of the intoxication of power of the current right-wing government. But this also explains the wide range of groups and sleeping elites that came together for the «Second War of Independence», after listening to and including the words of the President of the Supreme Court («the democratic identity of the country will be fatally damaged» ), the outgoing Chief of Staff («It won’t happen»), his predecessors and the concern expressed by Western leaders, as if they had read the analysis of the «Institute for National Security Studies»:
«Tech strategy brings bipolar order back to headlines… (You have to) ‘pick a side’… uphold democracy and liberal values… (will ensure the) continuation of (Israel’s) close relations with their allies».
Will the democratic camp be able to offer alternatives to sectoral bribery and build an Israeli majority that protects the people’s army, popular sovereignty and its strategic assets, all three free from dependence on Chinese capital?
Understanding the regime revolution in correlation with the structure of global alliances reveals the logic of the right-wing government’s intoxication of power. But it also explains the variety of groups and elites that submitted to the «Second War of Independence.»
In the posts related to the » Kohelet Forum» (which initiated the «Nationality Law» establishing the legal status of a Bedouin scout serving in the IDF as inferior to the status of a non-Jewish citizen only according to Halacha) it is easy to follow in the footsteps of the «Belt and Road Initiative». For example:
In an article published in «Hashiloach» magazine, discussing the balance of opportunities and risks involved in cooperation with China, it was stated: «The trade fight between the superpowers is an opportunity: the Israelis will be able to take the place of their friends from the United States whose Chinese customs will make their products more expensive by 25%».
At the end of the article, the author thanks the Koh e l e t Forum, and especially Prof. Moshe Kopel, for the great help he received from them, but not before suggesting to consider the strategic advantage of Chinese control of the Gulf port, which can constitute a «certificate of insurance» against Hezbollah’s missiles and Iranian aggression.
At the end of the article, the author thanks the Kohelet Forum, and especially Prof. Moshe Kopel, for the great help he received from them, but not before suggesting to consider the strategic advantage of Chinese control of the Gulf port, which may constitute a «certificate of insurance» against Hezbollah’s missiles and Iranian aggression.
«Hashiloach» y «Forum Kohelet» are funded by Keren Tikva. Dr. Moshe Kopel is a member of the foundation’s board of trustees, and the president of the Tikva Foundation is Eliot Abrams.
In the 1980s, as part of his State Department duties, Abrams was involved in a series of incidents involving the supply of US aid and arms to right-wing governments and organizations in South America that were used to oppose the movements. from the left and in many cases also for murders in those countries.
In this context, Abrams was tried and sentenced to a fine and probation for withholding information from Congress, as well as information related to the Iran-Contra affair. A sign carried in a protest outside the foundation’s New York offices in March of this year read:
«Eliot Abrams, president of Keren Tikva, did not live in Israel, did not serve in the military, and has never seen Givat Halfon: he is financing a legal coup in Israel by remote control.»
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Dr. Amir Yuval is a former professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Haifa and at «Kinneret College». His opinion pieces have been published on the «Avoda Schorah» website and in the Haaretz newspaper . He analyzes politics using the concept: «glocalization», which refers to the changes in the roles of state and municipal institutions in the global era (in the «populism» phase). The analysis led him to conclude that the «politicization» of public institutions is not the problem but part of the solution and that is why he supports the European model of public services and social democracy.