Worried about Beijing’s digital espionage network, Israel withdraws China-made vehicles: Report

Tel Aviv: China’s expanding involvement in Israeli infrastructure and port projects, including the Port of Haifa, has prompted Israeli security research centres to closely monitor the situation amid concerns that these Chinese investments could enable Beijing to collect intelligence on Israeli military capabilities and the US technological secrets, a report said on Friday.

According to the report in ‘Modern Diplomacy’, the Israeli Ministry of Defence and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of the General Staff, Eyal Zamir ordered the removal of hundreds of Chinese-manufactured vehicles from their officers in late 2025, as part of enhanced security measures, citing fears of espionage on behalf of China.

“Consequently, the IDF issued a decision in late 2025 to withdraw and replace hundreds of Chinese-made vehicles used by its officers due to security concerns related to espionage and data collection. Prior to the comprehensive withdrawal decision, the IDF and its Ministry of Defence had already implemented several restrictive measures for Israeli officers and military personnel using Chinese-made vehicles,” the report detailed.

“The IDF had already prohibited the entry of Chinese vehicles (whether belonging to the IDF or to military personnel) into military bases and sensitive installations, requiring their owners to park them in designated areas outside Israeli military perimeters. Israeli security sources and the Mossad explained that some Chinese vehicles were equipped with systems including cameras, microphones, sensors, and communication technologies that transmit information to external servers, sometimes without the control of the user or the local importer,” it added.

The Israeli military concerns, the report said, stem primarily from the potential use of Chinese automotive technology to strengthen Beijing’s digital espionage network. Israeli security officials warned that the intelligence systems and proprietary software embedded in these Chinese vehicles could collect sensitive data, including geographic location, through Chinese “GPS” tracking and monitoring satellites.

The report stressed that the Israeli Ministry of Defence had earlier attempted to curb risks by sanitising all such multimedia systems in Chinese-made vehicles and disabling specific functions in their computer systems. However, Israeli cyber experts, it said, concluded that these steps fell short of stopping data breaches by Beijing and were inadequate to ensure complete security.

“The Israeli military then made the final decision to withdraw all those Chinese vehicles due to concerns about espionage on behalf of Beijing. The Israeli decision was based on security reports warning that these smart Chinese cars were equipped with cameras, microphones, sensors, and advanced “GPS” tracking systems operating within closed operating systems,” the report noted

IANS