Will US keep letting Israel sell arms? By Mounzer Sleiman
Thursday 07 July 2005, 23:44 Makka Time, 20:44 GMT
Despite optimistic reports in the Israeli press about Tel Aviv's bid to end a crisis with the US over arms exports in general and arms sales to China in particular, Israel's "compliance" with Washington's demands is not convincing.
Haaretz reported that even Israel's friends in the US Congress and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee have criticised its management of the crisis and urged it to avoid exacerbating the conflict.
Sources in Washington familiar with Israeli tactics of deception are sceptical of any new memorandum of understanding that may be concluded to curtail Israeli clandestine activities to sell advanced arms in violation of American laws.
They point to the Chinese-Israeli history of military cooperation as stark evidence.
China projecting power
The successful test of a Chinese submarine-launched ballistic missile a couple of weeks ago has once again brought attention to the growing strategic power projection of this Asian country.
The new missile is capable of delivering a nuclear weapon up to 9000 km, which allows its submarines to remain near the Chinese coast, under a military umbrella, while engaging in potential military operations anywhere in the world.
US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld noted that "China is improving its ability to project power, and developing advanced systems of military technology".
"Israel could not have sold any technology to China without tacit approval from the master!"
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What Rumsfeld didn't elaborate on was where China has acquired much of its military technology from and how "America's strategic partner" had violated several American laws on the export and third party transfer of critical military technologies.
Although Russian technology plays a part in its programmes, much of China's advanced technology has come from the Israelis, who have often sold their own technology or American technology that was given to them.
An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman put the 2004 trade volume with China at $2.4 billion, saying this did not include defence deals. Defence Ministry figures are not official, but Israel's Channel Two television said Israel sells China some $2.5 billion of satellite technology and arms per annum.
As a result, the US has recently embargoed new defence sales to Israel until it satisfactorily settles the dispute over unauthorised sales of technology to China. It has even threatened Israeli participation in the new Joint Strike Fighter being built by Lockheed Martin.
Although the US has occasionally stopped Israeli sales to China, like the Phalcon Airborne warning system, many sales have either been ignored or done secretly.
This sort of blindness to espionage is not the norm for American intelligence
In many cases, like the sale of Patriot missile technology, the transfer had to be kept secret because Israel knew that the US would veto the sale.
From the Israeli point of view, a partnership with China is ideal. Israel has a small, advanced industrial base. Its technology rivals anything out of Europe or the US. However, the inefficiencies of staying on a wartime basis have made it small and inefficient.
China, on the other hand, has a large industrial base that is in need of technology. And, China has the hard currency to pay for that technology.
Although the current disagreement is over Israel's upgrading of Chinese drones that are capable of finding radar units, the pattern of Israeli sales goes back much longer.
In fact, they have specialised in selling China "multiplier" technology - advances that multiply the effectiveness of an army, allowing it to fight toe-to-toe with the most advanced armies in the world.
There is no better example of this type of sale than the transfer of Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) technology that is seen in the upgrade of the Chinese drone aircraft. ELINT gathering equipment is critical for a modern army.
It allows aircraft to detect the electronic emissions of enemy units, categorise them as to their purpose, and help determine the level of threat.
Israel, which has an advanced electronics industry, has gladly offered the Chinese the equipment that has been designed specifically for detecting and countering systems used by many nations in the Middle East.
From the Israeli point of view, a partnership with China is ideal
A weapons system that is heavily reliant on electronic technology is the Chinese anti-radiation missile (YJ-9) which is designed to home in on radar units and destroy them.
This is a high priority programme for the Chinese and much of its technology came from the Israeli's Star Arms missile system.
It had been designed to specifically home in on American electronic emissions like the Awacs aircraft, the Patriot missile radar, and the Aegis phased array radar on American warships.
High technology
The ability to counter these American systems came from the Israelis, who had access to the technologies of these systems. And, these technology transfers were in direct contradiction of the Missile Technology Control Regime.
The Chinese YJ-9 is not the only missile to benefit from Israeli sales. The Chinese HQ-9 Medium Range Surface to Air Missile also has technology from the American Patriot Missile System.
The technology came to the Chinese via the Israelis who received it supposedly for development of their Arrow Anti-ballistic Missile.
It not only makes Chinese SAMs more effective, but renders Chinese ballistic missiles harder to intercept since they know the strengths and weaknesses of a major anti-ballistic missile system.
Israeli missile technology sales are not limited to these. Tel Aviv has purportedly licensed the production of its short range Python air-to-air missile.
As a result of this help, China's missile industry is commonly known as, "an island of excellence".
This is a dramatic development considering that just 30 years ago China did not have any indigenous missile technology base to speak of. Now they are a major supplier of missiles around the world.
But, sales alone are not the only threat posed by China. The country is rapidly gaining the ability to project power far beyond its borders and much of that technology is coming from Israel.
Israel has managed to escape any major punishment for its actions because of its special relationship with the US
One aspect to power projection is the development of a "blue water" navy. And Israel has done much to help China in that regard.
Within the last month, American intelligence published a report that expressed surprise at several key military developments that would allow Beijing to project its military power.
One of those developments was the deployment of a new Chinese warship equipped with a Chinese version of the American Aegis Battle Management technology.
This technology, again, came via Israeli sources, which also provided the information that allows Chinese anti-radiation missiles to successfully acquire and destroy the Aegis phased array radar.
Escaping punishment
Israel is not just satisfied with selling technology. It is transforming the Chinese industrial base in order to make it more efficient.
Given the Chinese industrial base's limited technology, Israel has been forced to send advisers and technicians to China's military factories to help them overcome long standing weaknesses in design, engineering and systems integration.
This help will allow the Chinese to develop better indigenous weapons, integrate foreign technology faster, and reverse engineer stolen weapons systems successfully.
By sending advisers and technicians to China to help upgrade its arms factories, Israel is not only giving them the technology but the ability to better use it and capitalise on it in the future.
Israel has managed to escape any major punishment for its actions because of its special relationship with the US.
In a recent highly classified report for the new Director of America's National Intelligence, American analysts were accused of not recognising the Chinese military technology threat.
Interestingly, the report faulted American intelligence for failing to see technological developments in areas where Israel was actively involved.
This sort of blindness to espionage is not the norm for American intelligence. When France was accused of industrial espionage a few years ago, the US government made an international issue of it.
When European countries sold technology to Iraq, the US imposed sanctions. But, for Israel, it has kept relatively quiet and the transfer of technology from America to Israel continues despite the recent events.
Mounzer Sleiman, PhD, is an independent political-military analyst and expert in US national security affairs, based in the Washington DC area.
The opinions expressed here are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position or have the endorsement of Aljazeera.
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Poster Comment:
Should America fall on her sword fighting Israel's enemies in the Mideast, look for China to emerge as Israel's new champion.