At Last: A Flotilla That Is Welcomed In Israel!

Flotillas that are headed Israel's way are usually headed toward Gaza and are a source of trouble. This flotilla is headed for Israel instead, and hopefully is a sign of good things to come.

The Global Times has a short piece on Chinese navy ships visit Israel's Haifa Port:

The Chinese navy's 11th escort fleet arrived in Israel's Haifa Port Monday, starting a four-day goodwill visit.

The vessels were welcomed by Israeli navy's Haifa base commander Elyahu Sharvit and Chinese embassy officials.
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the Port located on Mediterranean coastline is one of the busiest in the country.

The flotilla finished in July its four-month international escort mission in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters, after having escorted 184 ships in 43 operations. A total of 126 pirate vessels in 58 incidents were successfully driven away by the warships.

A Chinese visit to Israel should not be surprising:

• After all, Barry Rubin wrote in June that In A Few Years China Will Likely Be the Second-Most Important Country for Israel. 
• Meanwhile, it has already been reported that Israel and China Will Work Together On The New Eilat Railway. 
• One motivation of course is that like Russia, China shares with Israel a wariness of Islamism.

It's all very well for the US and Israel to have joint military exercises--during an election year when Obama is expected to lose part of the Jewish vote.

China shares interests with Israel that have nothing to do with elections. And China not only is aware of those common interests, it is also ready and willing to act upon them.

Just one more indication that Israel, like the rest of the world, is aware that as long as Obama is in office, it is best to look for more friends and allies elsewhere.

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Technorati Tag: Israel and China.