Published: 17 June 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
US Senate warns Israel against letting China run Haifa port (Times of Israel)
A major spending bill in the Senate includes a veiled warning to Israel not to allow Beijing to run one of its ports and reconsider massive investments to flowing into Israel from China.
The National Defense Authorization Act is in its final stages of passage and is likely to be approved by the Republican-led Senate.
It includes a “sense of the Senate” passage stating that “the United States has an interest in the future forward presence of United States naval vessels at the Port of Haifa in Israel but has serious security concerns with respect to the leasing arrangements of the Port of Haifa.”
Haaretz, which first reported the passage in the massive bill when it was posted Thursday on a congressional website, said the reference is to the Shanghai International Port Group, which under a deal with Haifa is set to operate its port for 25 years starting in 2021.
China’s invisible hand in the Middle East (Haaretz)
Beijing doesn’t attend summits to end wars, it builds ports, lays telecommunications networks and sells arms as it surreptitiously amasses its political power
Photo: Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Beijing, April 25 (Andrea Verdelli / Pool via Reuters)
