Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel’s leading strategic institute has urged Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to focus on Iran’s nuclear program in his
forthcoming visit to China.

The Institute for National Security Studies said the Netanyahu visit to
China on May 6, the first in more than six years, marked an opportunity
to develop cooperation with Beijing, which installed a new leadership in
March 2013. The institute warned that Israel’s focus on Teheran would send
the wrong signal to Beijing, a supplier to Iran’s military.

“Consequently, if Israel makes Iran the main focus of discussion,
China’s will take this to mean that strengthening bilateral ties is not of
primary importance to Israel,” the institute said in a report. “Rather, from
Israel’s perspective, China’s importance is limited to promoting Israel’s
security interests.”

On May 5, Netanyahu left for a five-day visit to China in which he was
expected to discuss what was termed strategic issues. A statement by
Netanyahu said several economic agreements would also be signed in Beijing.

“The Chinese leadership was recently replaced and it is expected to rule
there for the coming decade,” the statement said. “Issues of strategic
importance in a variety of fields are expected to be raised in Prime
Minister Netanyahu’s meetings with senior leaders of the new administration; new bilateral agreements will also be signed.”

Report author Yoram Evron said Iranian nuclear threat has usually
dominated Israel’s meetings with China. Evron recommended that Netanyahu
focus on opportunities for Israeli-Chinese trade and cooperation.

“First and foremost, Israel should demonstrate to China that it is
interested in promoting bilateral relations, and that to this end it is
prepared to help, with its limited capabilities, to further China’s
interests in the Middle East,” the report said. “Specific issues that can be
raised in this context are promoting Chinese investments in Israel — an
interest of both countries — and establishing formal and semi-formal high
level dialogues between the two states.”

Until 2000, China was deemed a major client of Israel’s defense
industry, which supplied unmanned aerial vehicles as well as other
platforms. But over a five-year period, the United States blocked repeated
military exports in what eventually destroyed the defense relationship
between Beijing and Jerusalem.

Dated May 4, the report said Netanyahu would be required to include
Washington in any Israeli decision to export technology to China. Evron
urged the prime minister, who canceled several visits to Beijing, to find
technological opportunities with China that would not arouse U.S.
opposition.

“His intentions to include Chinese companies in large infrastructure
projects in Israel, for example, are known, as is his instruction to
ministers in his government during a time of budget cuts to reduce official
trips to every country except China,” the report said. “Therefore, despite
his commitment to ties with the United States, Netanyahu’s contribution to
relations with China is largely positive, and the planned visit can help
bolster this dynamic.”

  in Beijing, Institute for National Security Studies, Israeli-Chinese trade, Netanyahu, urged not to push issue of Iran’s nuclear program, Yoram Evron