The Israeli Prime Ministers Office sits on a quiet hill in Jerusalem. On the desk of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are two letters, one from Washington and the other from Beijing. Both are on the same topic. Seven years ago, a 16-year-old Jewish American was killed in a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. The fundamentalist group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, and it later emerged that Chinas state-owned Bank of China was one of the banks used by the organization to transfer money. The boys relatives and numerous other victims of terrorist attacks in Israel have filed lawsuits in the U.S. against the Bank of China for providing services to known terrorist organizations such as Islamic Jihad. This spring, as Netanyahu planned his second trip to China, the Chinese side made it clear that an invitation would only be extended if the court case against the Bank of China was prevented from proceeding further. According to Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the Israeli Prime Ministers Office gave its promise, and the visit went ahead in May. Fast-forward five months. Earlier in October, Netanyahu received a letter from Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Republican chair of a U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee and a staunch Congressional ally of Israel. Dear Mr. Prime Minister, she wrote. I am writing to respectfully request your assistance to support joint initiatives in the war on terrorism, by permitting the U.S. legal process run its course in the case against Bank of China. The language was polite, but the message was clear. The letter from the Chinese government that arrived soon after is said to have been much harsher in tone: it reminded the prime minister that he had made a promise and that the Chinese government expected him to keep it. Chinas frustration that the case was still in process – five months after Netanyahus visit – was clear. During his visit to Beijing, Netanyahu had discussed various infrastructure projects with Chinese leaders, the grandest of which was a high-speed railway that would run the length of Israel. The Israeli leader was extremely pleased with the project, which would link the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and form an alternative route to the Suez Canal. Also on his mind was the hope that long-term economic cooperation and friendship might encourage China to one day disengage from Israels No. 1 enemy, Iran. But further progress in the court case threatened to negate any gains that had been achieved by the trip. By giving contradictory promises to the Chinese government, to his friends in the American right wing and to the court in the U.S., Netanyahu has become personally entangled in this affair, the Yedioth newspaper wrote. I dont Envy this man
Posted on: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 09:17:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015