Abstract

The Sino-Israeli story is a most thrilling story. It encompasses unique history, culture, complex diplomacy and worldwide business. This is on the whole a success story. An attempt will be made here to feature the wide picture of Sino-Israeli relations from a historical-political perspective, from Jewish-Israeli standpoint and from the author's personal stance. The speaker will devote special place to Israeli firms' activity in China, to the reasons for their respective successes and failures and to Chinese current high-tech, innovation and infra-structural investments in Israel with a special emphasis on contrasting viewpoints regarding this new trend. An attempt will be made to critically examine the process of privatization with a specific emphasis on the government's practice to privatize and sell national infrastructures such as ports, railways to the Chinese and let them operate some of these. This includes the proposed Red-Med Railway (from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean), an important geo-strategic communication line parallel to the Suez Canal. Why did the government sell Tnuva, Israel's largest food manufacturer and distributer, a household name and a Zionist icon, to the Chinese?