Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to China

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China, Hong Kong and Macau: Jewish communities from Kaifeng to Shanghai and Hong Kong, Israeli arms sales and the US-blocked Phalcon and Harpy deals, Chinese ownership of Tnuva and operation of the Haifa Bayport, Cellebrite in Hong Kong, and Ehud Barak's dealings with Shanghai Alliance Investment

China has about 2,500 Jews, according to the World Jewish Congress (WJC), with no national representative body; most live in Beijing, Shanghai and Kaifeng, and Hong Kong has its own long-established community.[1] China and "Israel" established diplomatic relations in 1992, and in 2017 Xi Jinping and Benjamin Netanyahu announced an "innovative comprehensive partnership".[2] The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) records Israeli air-to-air missiles and loitering munitions supplied to China in the 1990s, but US pressure stopped the sale of the Phalcon early-warning system in 2000 and an upgrade of Harpy drones in 2005. The Chinese state-owned Bright Food bought control of the Israeli food group Tnuva in 2015, and Shanghai International Port Group has operated Haifa's new Bayport since 2021. The leaked emails of Ehud Barak show him negotiating a paid partnership with Shanghai Alliance Investment, a state investment company headed by Jiang Mianheng, in 2015.

Jewish community and religious life

History and demography

According to the WJC, the first Jewish settlers reached China along the Silk Road during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) and founded a community in Kaifeng. Ashkenazi Jews came to Shanghai after it opened to foreign trade in 1842. By the mid-1930s Shanghai's community consisted of about 700 descendants of Iraqi Jews and several thousand Jews who had fled Russia after 1917. Because Shanghai required no entry visas, about 17,000 Jewish refugees from Nazism found refuge there between 1933 and 1941, and in 1940–41 about 2,000 Polish Jews arrived with visas issued by the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara. After the Japanese invasion most were confined to the Hongkou district. Most Jews left after the war.[1]

The WJC gives a current figure of about 2,500. It notes that the 2010 census gave 2,800 and that the demographer Sergio DellaPergola gave 2,500 for 2015. It describes Jewish life in China as "caught between the international, economic aspirations of a rising superpower and a ruling party intent on exercising and retaining complete authority", and says that most religious identity is "celebrated individually and privately". There are museums on Jewish history in Kaifeng, at the former Hongkou ghetto in Shanghai and in Harbin.[1]

Communal organisations

The WJC says there is no formal representative body for China's Jews, but there are "small active expat groups" in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai. There are almost no independent synagogues: religious life runs through Chabad houses and other centres, including a Shanghai branch of the Shehebar Sephardic Center and the Shanghai Jewish Center, which has a kosher café.[1]

How far are they Zionist? No statements on Zionism or "Israel" by these mainland groups were found.

Chabad

Main article: Chabad Lubavitch of China


Hong Kong and Macau

According to the WJC, there was no settled Jewish presence in Hong Kong until it became a British colony in 1842. The Sassoon and Kadoorie families, both Sephardi dynasties, moved their businesses there, the community was founded in 1857, and Sir Matthew Nathan served as Hong Kong's first and only Jewish governor. Jews from Shanghai, Tianjin and Harbin moved to Hong Kong after the Japanese invasion of the mainland. The WJC cites The Times of Israel for a figure of about 5,000 Jews in 2019, but also DellaPergola's estimate of about 2,500 in 2015; the two figures conflict.[3]

Ohel Leah Synagogue Charity. The charity is the WJC's Hong Kong affiliate. It runs the Ohel Leah Synagogue (established in 1901), the Jewish Community Centre, the cemetery and the Chevra Kadisha, and handles community security and relations with the Hong Kong government. The Ohel Leah Synagogue is modern Orthodox; there are also two Sephardi Orthodox congregations, Kehilat Zion and Shuva Israel, and the United Jewish Congregation for Reform, Liberal and Conservative Jews. Other bodies include the Jewish Women's Association, the Jewish Historical Society and the Jewish Film Festival.[3]

How far is it Zionist? No statement by the charity on Zionism was found. Its WJC affiliation is documented.

Carmel School Association. The WJC lists Carmel as one of Hong Kong's leading international schools, with a Jewish education.[3] The school describes itself as "an independent Jewish Day School which follows Modern Orthodox principles and has a strong commitment to Zionism".[4]

Bnei Akiva. The WJC records a local chapter of the religious Zionist youth movement Bnei Akiva in Hong Kong.[3]

Chabad in Hong Kong

Main article: Chabad Lubavitch of Hong Kong


"Israel" and Hong Kong established formal relations in 1985, according to the WJC.[3] In 2011 the Israeli foreign ministry listed a consulate-general in Hong Kong, alongside the embassy in Beijing and consulates-general in Guangzhou and Shanghai.[5] No separate Jewish communal body in Macau was found.

Zionist groups

Shavei Israel. The Forward describes Shavei Israel, chaired by Michael Freund, as an Israeli organisation "that searches for 'lost and dispersed' Jews and often assists with immigration to Israel". It reported that Shavei Israel organised and paid for the immigration and Orthodox conversion of four descendants of Kaifeng's Jews in 2006, opened its own centre in Kaifeng in 2013 and has since organised the immigration of twelve more.[6] In February 2016 five women from Kaifeng arrived in "Israel" with Shavei Israel, which paid for their religious studies in Jerusalem and supported them through conversion, after which they would receive Israeli citizenship.[7] In September 2016 Freund wrote that Kaifeng's authorities had raided the centre during Passover 2014, ordered Hebrew signs removed, closed the site of the community's historic mikveh well and questioned community members. He said Shavei Israel had brought "some 20" Kaifeng Jews to "Israel", and he criticised the Israeli embassy in Beijing for not keeping in touch with them.[8]

The sources differ. The Forward gives four immigrants in 2006 and twelve more since, and dates Shavei Israel's centre to 2013;[6] the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that seven young men from Kaifeng had immigrated with Shavei Israel in October 2009;[7] Freund gives "some 20" and says the centre opened in 2010.[8]

Hong Kong. Bnei Akiva and the Carmel School (above) are the only Zionist bodies found in Hong Kong.

Israeli state and commercial ties

Diplomacy

The Israeli foreign ministry lists its relations with China as established in January 1992, with an embassy in Beijing.[5] On 21 March 2017, on the 25th anniversary of relations, Xi Jinping and Netanyahu announced an "innovative comprehensive partnership" in Beijing. According to the Chinese foreign ministry, Netanyahu said "Israel" would "continue to uphold the one-China policy".[2]

China has also hosted Palestinian factions. On 23 July 2024 the foreign minister, Wang Yi, witnessed 14 factions, including Fatah and Hamas, sign the Beijing Declaration on ending their division. Wang said: "China never has any selfish interests on the Palestinian question. China was among the first countries to recognize the PLO and the State of Palestine."[9] Al Jazeera reported that the deal raised both "hope and doubt" that the rival movements could reconcile.[10]

In November 2014 the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, C. Y. Leung, met the mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Ron Huldai, and encouraged Israeli technology companies to set up in Hong Kong and to use its role as a "super-connector" to the mainland.[11]

Arms

SIPRI records the following Israeli deliveries to China:[12]

  • about 3,000 Python-3 short-range air-to-air missiles, delivered from 1990 to 2001 and given the Chinese designation PL-8 (SIPRI notes that the number "could be much lower or higher");
  • about 50 Harpy loitering munitions, delivered in 1998–99.

In July 2000, at the Camp David summit, Prime Minister Ehud Barak told Bill Clinton that "Israel" would not complete a 1996 deal to fit Phalcon airborne early-warning radars to aircraft for China. According to the Arms Control Association, US officials had argued that the system could shift the military balance in the Taiwan Strait in China's favour, and members of Congress had threatened to withhold aid to "Israel".[13] In 2005, under the government of Ariel Sharon, "Israel" froze a contract to upgrade China's Harpy drones after the US accused it of misleading Washington. The Guardian reported that the US had imposed sanctions, including removing "Israel" from the development of the F-35, and that "Israel" agreed to let the US examine its defence exports. It said "Israel" had paid "substantial compensation" for cancelling the Phalcon deal.[14]

Surveillance

MIT Technology Review reported in 2020 that Hong Kong police court filings showed that phone-hacking technology from the Israeli company Cellebrite had been used to break into 4,000 phones, including that of the pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong.[15] The Israeli lawyer Eitay Mack and some 60 activists petitioned the Tel Aviv District Court to make the Ministry of Defence stop Cellebrite's exports to Hong Kong.[16] On 7 October 2020 Cellebrite announced that it would stop selling to customers in Hong Kong and China, citing "a change in U.S. regulations".[17]

Companies and investment

Tnuva. In March 2015 the Chinese state-owned Bright Food completed its purchase of control of the Israeli food group Tnuva, paying NIS 4.78 billion to Apax Partners and Mivtach Shamir for their stakes of 56.15% and 20.7%.[18] The law firm that acted for Bright Food called it "the largest investment to date by a Chinese company in Israel".[19]

Haifa Bayport. Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) operates Haifa's new Bayport, which opened on 1 September 2021. SIPG described it as "the first time Chinese enterprises export advanced technology and management experience about smart ports to a developed country as part of its Belt and Road initiative".[20]

Investment screening. In October 2019, after a visit by the US Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, "Israel"'s security cabinet set up an advisory committee to assess the national-security aspects of foreign investments. Reuters, as carried by the Algemeiner, reported that this followed US pressure over business deals with China, and that a US official had warned "Israel" in January 2019 that allies might limit intelligence-sharing.[21]

Chinese construction workers. In April 2017 "Israel" signed an agreement with China to bring in 6,000 construction workers, after accepting China's demand that they not work in West Bank settlements or East Jerusalem. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said: "We oppose building Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories including East Jerusalem and West Bank."[22]

Trade

The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $14,736.4 million from China in 2025 (2024: $13,529.1 million) and exported goods worth $2,812.3 million to it (2024: $2,831.4 million). It lists Hong Kong separately: imports of $3,121.2 million (2024: $2,848.8 million) and exports of $2,009.3 million (2024: $1,984.7 million).[23]

Migration and aliyah

The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics counts immigrants born in China as follows:

  • 504 in 1948–51;
  • 217 in 1952–60;
  • 96 in 1961–71;
  • 43 in 1972–79;
  • 78 in the 1980s;
  • 255 in the 1990s;
  • 226 in 2000–2020;
  • 18 in 2021;
  • 18 in 2022;
  • 13 in 2023.[24]

Political interference

UN voting

China voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.[25]

Ehud Barak's emails

The following items come from the two leaked mailboxes of the former Israeli prime minister and defence minister Ehud Barak (ehbarak1@gmail.com and ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com, 2007–2016). They were hacked and leaked by Handala, a group that Distributed Denial of Secrets describes as "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and were published by Distributed Denial of Secrets in August 2025. The emails carry no cryptographic signatures, and Distributed Denial of Secrets warns that material from such hack-and-leak operations may have been altered.[26]

  • Shanghai Alliance Investment. Barak's main Chinese contact in 2014–15 was Jiang Mianheng, the son of the former president Jiang Zemin.[27] Quartz described him in 2014 as CEO of Shanghai Alliance Investment Ltd (SAIL), "a state investment company that operates similarly to a private equity firm".[28] In October 2014 Jiang told Barak's office that he would bring a colleague "who has been our contact person working with TEVA".[29] On 19 January 2015 Barak and Professor Benad Goldwasser met Jiang at SAIL's headquarters in Shanghai, on a programme that included visits to United Imaging and a Shanghai hospital.[30] Afterwards Jiang wrote that he hoped "to further our conversation on the topic of collaboration between our two nations".[31]
  • SAIL delegation and MOU. In May 2015 Barak wrote to Jiang that "We tried to introduce the delegation to IL companies which are really promising", after a SAIL delegation's visit to "Israel", and arranged to meet him in Shanghai on 29 May.[32] Before the meeting Goldwasser sent a draft memorandum of understanding to Robert Lawrence Kuhn, who, according to a biography sent to Barak's office, "advises and works with China senior leaders on special projects".[33] He wrote that SAIL had asked for it, that the management fee would be "according to budget", and that "we will receive an upside in future JV's and/or investments". Kuhn advised Barak to discuss the principles first and send the MOU later.[34]
  • "Strange or innocent?" In December 2015 a SAIL official forwarded to Goldwasser an invitation to a China–Israel summit in Beijing for "100 Israeli technology companies", adding: "We will certainly not go to the meeting. But it seems that there are more activities between Israel and China". Goldwasser forwarded it to Barak, asking: "Strange or innocent? Are they trying to tell us something like don't ask too much as there are other opportunities".[35]
  • Hong Kong. In August 2014 Ronnie Chan of Hang Lung Properties, global co-chair of the Asia Society, wrote to Barak that the Chief Executive, C. Y. Leung, had an "interest in visiting Israel" and would meet him. Chan wrote: "I am very concerned over the negative press in the West regarding Israel. In recent weeks, a particular local Chinese newspaper began attacking your country. I have written a letter to rebut."[36] Barak replied: "Thanks for all that you are doing to enable us with better understanding of China."[37] Hang Lung staff later arranged a meeting at Leung's office on 10 October 2014, and Barak agreed to the usual short press release.[38]

Jeffrey Epstein

Documents released by the US Department of Justice in the Jeffrey Epstein files mention China and Hong Kong many thousands of times, mostly in news digests and financial papers. They include the following:

  • In September 2009 the businessman David Stern wrote to Epstein that the Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer had "cornerstoned my China focused fund with US$50m before the crisis hit and pulled out", and suggested that Ofer's financial problems at the shipping group ZIM "can be of interest to us for financing".[39]
  • In January 2011 Epstein asked the British politician Peter Mandelson about a third person. The reply, whose sender is redacted, said that the man was "trying to recruit me to Li Ka Shing deal" and asked: "Know him ?"[40]
  • In March 2014 Stern forwarded to Epstein an article from Tablet, "The Chinese Believe That the Jews Control America. Is That a Good Thing?", about the Institute of Jewish and Israel Studies at Nanjing University.[41]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 World Jewish Congress, Community in China worldjewishcongress.org, accessed 21 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping Meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel fmprc.gov.cn, 21 March 2017, accessed 21 October 2026 (Chinese government-side).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 World Jewish Congress, Community in Hong Kong worldjewishcongress.org, accessed 21 October 2026.
  4. ↑ Carmel School Association, Our Mission carmel.edu.hk, accessed 21 October 2026 (Carmel School-side).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations mfa.gov.il, archived 5 August 2011 (Israeli government-side).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Who Are the Kaifeng Jews — and Why Is China 'Cracking Down' on Them? The Forward, 19 September 2016, accessed 21 October 2026.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 5 young Chinese women arrive in Israel to make aliyah Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 29 February 2016, accessed 21 October 2026.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Michael Freund, Stop the crackdown on China's Jews shavei.org, 8 September 2016, accessed 21 October 2026 (Shavei Israel-side).
  9. ↑ Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Palestinian Factions Sign Beijing Declaration on Ending Division and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity mfa.gov.cn, 23 July 2024, accessed 21 October 2026 (Chinese government-side).
  10. ↑ 'Pressure for this to succeed': Will Fatah-Hamas unity deal hold? Al Jazeera, 25 July 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.
  11. ↑ Hong Kong SAR Government, CE meets Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo of Israel info.gov.hk, 24 November 2014, accessed 21 October 2026 (Hong Kong government-side).
  12. ↑ Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Arms Transfers Database SIPRI, trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.
  13. ↑ Arms Control Association, Israel Halts Chinese Phalcon Deal Arms Control Today, September 2000, accessed 21 October 2026.
  14. ↑ Israel scraps arms deal with China The Guardian, 27 June 2005, accessed 21 October 2026.
  15. ↑ Israeli phone hacking company faces court fight over sales to Hong Kong MIT Technology Review, 25 August 2020, accessed 21 October 2026.
  16. ↑ Rights activist petition court to block Cellebrite export of spy tools to Hong Kong CTech, 2 September 2020, accessed 21 October 2026.
  17. ↑ Cellebrite, Cellebrite to Stop Selling Its Digital Intelligence Offerings In Hong Kong & China PR Newswire, 7 October 2020, accessed 21 October 2026 (Cellebrite-side).
  18. ↑ Bright Food finally completes acquisition of Tnuva Globes, 30 March 2015, accessed 21 October 2026.
  19. ↑ FISCHER (FBC & Co.), Sale of Control Stake in Tnuva to Bright Food Completed fbclawyers.com, accessed 21 October 2026 (FBC & Co.-side; the firm acted for Bright Food).
  20. ↑ Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., SIPG Haifa Bayport Terminal in Northern Isreal Starts Operation portshanghai.com.cn, 10 September 2021, accessed 21 October 2026 (SIPG-side).
  21. ↑ With Eye to China, Israel Forms Panel to Vet Foreign Investments Algemeiner, 31 October 2019, accessed 21 October 2026.
  22. ↑ Israel signs deal for 6,000 Chinese workers - but they can't work in settlements Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 24 April 2017, accessed 21 October 2026.
  23. ↑ Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports CBS, December 2025 issue (library copy) (Israeli government-side).
  24. ↑ Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), Statistical Abstract of Israel 2024, Table 2.55: Immigrants, by period of immigration, country of birth and last country of residence CBS, 2024 (Israeli government-side).
  25. ↑ United Nations General Assembly, Recorded vote on A/80/L.1/Rev.1: Endorsement of the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, 12 September 2025 (copy hosted by Al-Quds Al-Arabi).
  26. ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Ehud Barak emails, 27 August 2025, with download at data.ddosecrets.org, accessed 21 October 2026.
  27. ↑ Jiang Zemin's son named head of new ShanghaiTech University South China Morning Post, 22 February 2014, accessed 21 October 2026.
  28. ↑ China's princelings are taking over its private equity industry Quartz, 11 April 2014, accessed 21 October 2026.
  29. ↑ Email from Jiang Mianheng to Nili Priell Barak, forwarded to Ehud Barak, "Fwd: 答复: Letter from Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak", 10 October 2014, file ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!28/1 (276).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.
  30. ↑ Email from Jiang Mianheng to Nili Priell Barak and Ehud Barak, "答复: Agenda of your visit", 16 January 2015, file ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!23/1 (195).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.
  31. ↑ Email from Jiang Mianheng to Nili Priell Barak, forwarded to Ehud Barak, "Fwd: letter from Former PM Barak", 23 January 2015, file ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!23/1 (11).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.
  32. ↑ Email thread between Ehud Barak and Jiang Mianheng, "Touch Base MJ", 19–29 May 2015, file ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!15/1 (375).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.
  33. ↑ Email thread, "Re: Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn - bio", 3 March 2015, file ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!21/1 (146).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.
  34. ↑ Email thread between Benad Goldwasser and Robert Lawrence Kuhn, copied to Ehud Barak, "Re: MOU with SAIL", 28–29 May 2015, file ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!15/1 (367).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.
  35. ↑ Email from Benad Goldwasser to Ehud Barak, "Fwd: 100 Israeli companies coming to Beijing to meet Chinese investors, companies and governments", 11 December 2015, file ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!5/1 (235).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.
  36. ↑ Email from Ronnie Chan to Ehud Barak, "Meeting with the Chief Executive of HKSAR", 5 August 2014, file ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com/Inbox!2/1 (152).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.
  37. ↑ Email from Ehud Barak to Ronnie Chan, "Re: Meeting with the Chief Executive of HKSAR", 16 August 2014, file ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com/Inbox!2/1 (136).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.
  38. ↑ Email exchange between Hang Lung staff and Ehud Barak, "Meeting with CE of Hong Kong", 29 September 2014, file ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com/Inbox!2/1 (1).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.
  39. ↑ Email from David Stern to Jeffrey Epstein, "ZIM - Israel", 26 September 2009, EFTA00770578, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 9, copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein, accessed 21 October 2026.
  40. ↑ Email from Peter Mandelson to Jeffrey Epstein, 20 January 2011, EFTA00690080, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 9, copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein, accessed 21 October 2026.
  41. ↑ Email from David Stern to Jeffrey Epstein, "Fwd: Tablet 27.03.2014", 27 March 2014, EFTA01196458, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 9, copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein, accessed 21 October 2026.
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