Abstract
On April 16, 1979, the Israeli government was astonished to discover that one of its best kept secrets had been unveiled. Ze'ev Schiff, the respected military correspondent of the daily Ha'aretz provided a tantalizing glimpse of the hitherto clandestine relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Israel. Schiff reported that Israeli delegation recently visited Beijing and held talks with Chinese officials in order to initiate economic-commercial ties. The visit had been carried out in secrecy at the beginning of March. The organizer and the middleman between the two countries was the international businessman, Shaul Eizenberg. The Israeli delegation flew from Tel Aviv to Beijing on his private plane. 1 The revelation angered Defense Minister General Ezer Weizman, who feared the delicate web of ties between the two countries would be severely damaged by the publicity. The Chinese government did not react officially to the report, which was immediately circulated worldwide by the international media, but in private talks Chinese officials expressed their displeasure with the leak. It would not be the last time they would do so. In an effort to minimize the damage to future ties and to Israel's national interest, Weizman immediately ordered the military censors to censor further stories, and he convened the editors of Israel's newspapers and broadcast media and urged them-on national security grounds-not to
Published Version
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