Israel’s Defense Ministry is reassessing how the country prepares and arms itself for future wars, with officials examining elements of China’s industrial defense model as concerns grow over the ability of even the United States to maintain sufficient weapons supplies during prolonged conflicts.

According to an internal Defense Ministry document obtained by N12, officials are studying principles from China’s military-industrial buildup, with a particular focus on industrial resilience, secure supply chains and the ability to maintain a steady flow of weapons during an extended war.

The review comes amid lessons learned from recent conflicts and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to provide Israel’s defense establishment with an additional NIS 350 billion over the coming decade.

The document, prepared by SIBAT, the Defense Ministry’s International Defense Cooperation Directorate, is titled “China’s Technological and Industrial Policy.”

According to the report, one factor driving the reassessment is disappointment with the American model and questions over its ability to meet weapons requirements during a prolonged conflict.

“As is clearly evident from the war in Ukraine, and to a large extent also from the war against Iran, the great-power struggle of the coming decade will not be decided solely on the battlefield or by the size of the military,” the document states.

Instead, officials argue, countries will increasingly be judged by their ability to maintain industrial resilience and secure supply chains capable of providing their militaries with sufficient weapons for a drawn-out war.

President Donald Trump addressed concerns over U.S. weapons stockpiles over the weekend, saying America maintains nearly unlimited supplies of certain types of ammunition, while acknowledging that stocks of some other weapons have declined.

The Israeli document argues that China has moved ahead of the United States in several areas related to preparations for a potential future conflict.

According to its authors, Beijing has built a powerful system integrating industry with political and military objectives, describing it as a “powerful hybrid system that mobilizes the market in favor of its political and military goals.”

Israeli officials also acknowledge significant drawbacks to the Chinese approach, including the potential for wasted resources and reduced innovation.

However, the document argues that the sheer scale of China’s industrial base provides Beijing with a major strategic advantage and allows it to continue influencing the rules of the global economic and military competition.

The emerging Israeli approach would place “resilience before efficiency” at the center of defense planning, marking a potential departure from the Western model that traditionally emphasizes efficiency and cost reduction.

“The West can no longer rely on free-market mechanisms against a Chinese hybrid system that subordinates the market to the goals of the party,” the document states.

While Israel is not engaged in a direct confrontation with China, SIBAT officials reportedly believe the number of potential battlefronts and the variety of threats Israel could face require a fundamental reassessment of the country’s weapons strategy.

The document therefore recommends examining selected principles associated with the Chinese model as Israel prepares for the possibility of prolonged wars in which maintaining domestic production capacity and uninterrupted weapons supplies could prove decisive.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)