[On Aug. 13, Israel's Haaretz daily reported that the United States
rejected an Israeli request for advanced military systems that would
facilitate an attack on Iran. Haaretz did not identify the U.S. systems.]
In 2006, Israel agreed to a U.S. veto on military and security exports
to China and other countries regarded as adversaries of the United States.
The sources said the Bush administration insisted that the U.S. veto also
apply to Israeli security expertise to Beijing.
Israeli defense and security companies began negotiations to protect the
Olympic Games in China as early as 2004. At the time, officials and industry
sources said Beijing was interested in awarding contracts to Israeli
companies to serve as consultants or suppliers to Chinese authorities.
In the end, the sources said, Israeli companies were either shut out of
the Chinese market or forced to operate through third countries. A key
casualty was Israel's Athena Human & Technology Integrated Solutions, a
major security subcontractor in the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004.
The only direct Israeli security contractor in China was identified as
International Security and Defense Systems, which helped provide security to
the Olympics in 1992, 2000 and 2004. ISDS director Leo Gleser said his
company had encountered both Chinese and U.S. resistance in efforts to
secure a contract for the current Olympic Games.
In 2007, Gleser told the Israeli daily Haaretz, his company served as
a consultant to Chinese security firms. Later, ISDS trained
police and security teams in Beijing and Shanghai.
In March 2008, China was rocked by several insurgency attacks, including
a suicide bombing attempt. At that point, Gleser said, Beijing hired ISDS to
provide data on Islamic insurgency threats and propose protective measures.
ISDS has retained several leading Israeli analysts on Al Qaida and related
groups.
"The Chinese fear, among other things, that protest groups might try to
take advantage of the worldwide attention to carry out a non-violent but
provocative act to disgrace the Chinese organizers," Gleser said.
