Israel Is Handing China the Keys to America's Naval Front Yard

Epoch Times

02-05-2025

Commentary
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) just scored a major win, and one of America's closest allies handed it to them on a silver platter.
In March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government approved new regulatory reforms to increase efficiency at Israel's ports. But tucked away in the announcement was a national security disaster in the making: the Chinese-operated Bay Port in Haifa will now be allowed to double its capacity.
This isn't just a local upgrade. It's a decision with global consequences, and one that plays directly into the CCP's hands. Haifa is home to some of the most critical U.S. and Israeli naval operations in the region. Expanding Chinese control at this strategic site is nothing short of a gift to Beijing's surveillance machine.
During my time in the Israeli Knesset, I saw firsthand how economic interests and political convenience often overshadowed national security concerns. Deals that should have raised red flags instead sailed through with little scrutiny, dismissed as 'harmless' investments or 'technocratic' decisions.
This expansion of Chinese port control is no exception. It's a product of short-term thinking and a failure to reckon with the real cost of strategic alignment with Beijing, especially while Israel is at war and dependent on U.S. support like never before.
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Some officials are pushing this move as a sign of 'efficiency' and 'foreign investment,' but let's be clear: this is about politics, not policy, and the cost could be enormous.
The Bay Port is operated by Shanghai International Port Group, a Chinese state-owned company with direct ties to the Communist Party. It's no secret that the CCP uses commercial infrastructure for intelligence collection.
A 2022 Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that the highly advanced cranes used in China-run ports, including Haifa, are embedded with sensors and software that can transmit vast amounts of data, including sensitive information about American Navy ships, cargo, and movements, straight to Beijing.
When I served in the Knesset, Israeli military leaders were already warning about this. Rear Admiral Shaul Chorev said plainly: 'China is not on our side.' Rear Admiral Oded Gour-Lavie called the arrangement a 'serious security issue.'
Their warnings were ignored then. Now, they're being doubled down on.
In Washington, there's bipartisan agreement that Chinese surveillance infrastructure has no place in U.S. ports.
So while America is working to push China out of its supply chains and ports, Israel is doing the opposite.
And this comes as China expands its alignment with America's enemies: joint naval drills with Iran, potential arms transfers to the Houthis, and deeper involvement in Middle East shipping chokeholds like the Suez Canal and Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
China isn't neutral. It's enabling forces that are actively targeting U.S. ships, soldiers, and strategic allies.
Allies must act like allies, especially in wartime. The United States provides Israel with vital defense aid, diplomatic cover, and moral support—all under the assumption that our strategic partnership is built on trust.
But when Israel allows the CCP to build surveillance infrastructure next to U.S. naval operations, that trust is shaken.
This isn't an Israeli domestic issue. It's a red flag for the entire free world. And it raises one very uncomfortable question: If our closest allies won't draw the line with China, who will?
I say this not as a critic from the outside, but as someone who has been on the inside. I care deeply about Israel's future—and our alliance with the United States.
But I also know this: you cannot play both sides when the Chinese Communist Party is one of them.
The obvious objective of the CCP is to make the Indian-owned adjacent port unprofitable in order to kill the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) that poses a challenge to Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative.
Israel must halt this expansion, reassess the Haifa arrangement, and align itself once again with the values and interests it claims to share with the United States.
Anything less is a betrayal of our shared security—and of the American trust we rely on.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.