On March 20-21, 2017, 25 years after the establishment of diplomatic relations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit China, his second visit there during Xi Jinping’s presidency. The visit will take place against the backdrop of the growing economic relations between Israel and China; China’s heightened interest in the Middle East; and the dynamic developing among the three world powers at the outset of Donald Trump’s presidency. The upcoming visit, therefore, is a good time to examine the growth of Israel-China relations since Netanyahu’s previous visit in 2013 and the direction they may be taking.

This analysis is best made as part of a broader look at China’s interests in the Middle East and its Middle East policy. Given China’s declared policy of non-intervention in the internal matters of other states and its cautious risk-aversion, most Chinese activity in the Middle East is economic in nature: China’s political involvement in the region is minor and its small military presence is limited to peacekeeping missions. More than half of China’s oil imports come from the Middle East, and as part of its One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, is investing heavily in transportation infrastructures, such as roads, railroads, and sea ports.

The initiative is meant to connect China to European and African markets, and is financed in part by the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which Israel joined as soon as it was founded. In 2015 alone, China invested close to $5.7 billion in infrastructures in the Middle East and Africa, and in 2016 this sum jumped to $21.5 billion. China is also involved in building infrastructures in Israel, such as digging the Carmel tunnels in Haifa, laying the light rail in Tel Aviv, and expanding the Ashdod and Haifa seaports. China is likewise entering the residential construction industry.

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