PM Netanyahu and his Wife Welcomed by Indian PM Modi at the Presidential Palace

(Communicated by the Prime Minister’s Media Adviser)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, today (Monday, 15 January 2018), were welcomed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the presidential palace in an official ceremony that included an honor guard of more than 100 soldiers. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s vehicle received a mounted escort; the two countries’ national anthems were played.

Prime Minister Netanyahu:

“This is the dawn of a new era in the great friendship between India and Israel that began with Prime Minister Modi’s historic visit to Israel, which created tremendous enthusiasm. It continues with my visit here, which I must say is deeply moving for my wife and me, and for the entire people of Israel. And I think it heralds a flourishing of our partnership to bring prosperity and peace and progress for both our people.”

Following the ceremony, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife, along with Indian Prime Minister Modi, participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Raj Ghat memorial to the late Mahatma Gandhi. Prime Minister Netanyahu wrote in the guestbook: “Such grandeur and simplicity in honor of modern India’s founding father, one of the world’s greatest spiritual leaders.”




India to Buy 131 Surface to Air Missiles from Israel Ahead of Netanyahu’s Visit

India’s Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has given the go ahead for the procurement of 131 Surface to Air Barak missiles.  This is separate from the deal India scrapped with Israel’s Rafael Advance Defence in November of 2017.  The Ministry of Defense had decided to cancel the $500 million with Rafael systems for  acquiring of  the Spike Anti Tank Guided Missile because India wanted to develop their own version.

The deal for the Barak missiles was announced today to be timed before Prime Minister Netanyahu’s first state visit to India.

The two rising powers have been coming closer for years, but under Narendra Modi, India’s Hindu nationalist leader, the relationship between India and Israel has reached new heights.

Despite the very warm relations between India and Israel, the Modi government voted for Turkey’s resolution at the UN condemning President Trump’s declaration that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. Most experts believe that India will take time to shift their voting at the UN in Israel’s favor since the Hindu majority country has a large minority of Muslims equally around 100 million.

Why It Is Incumbent Upon India To Recognise Jerusalem As The Capital Of Israel

When does an Indian become an admirer of Israel? I do not know. It almost happens spontaneously and naturally. Then to become an anti-Semite, Israel-hating Palestine supporter it takes years of left-wing indoctrination.

There are ‘intellectuals’ and ‘analysts’ who say Indian Israeli supporters are similar to the evangelical Israeli supporters in the United States(US) – the typical US right-wing. No. There is a vital difference. For the evangelical supporters of the US, the formation of Israel is part of the fulfillment of their scriptural prediction. These are events bound to happen in their concept of end-time. Hence they support Israel. However, they do not have any innate value and love lost for Israel or Judaism as an equal but separate spiritual heritage of humanity.

What about Hindus? Perhaps, it is just the common purpose of Islamist opposition that unites Hindus and Hebrews? The answer is a clear “no”.

Beyond the problem of the so-called common enemies, Hindus and Jews are united by deep spiritual and cultural ties.

For centuries, if not millennia, Hindus have had connections with Hebrews. And despite Hinduism being a non-monotheistic religion which allows an infinite variety of spiritual paths to flourish within, Indians have been remarkably free of anti-Semitism.

When Anti-Semitism was axiomatic to the world-view of Christendom, a letter attributed to Shivaji, the seventeenth century formulator of the concept of Hindavi Swaraj, addressing the Mughal despot Aurangazeb, spoke about the need for a ‘policy of treating with peace and equality the Christians, Jews, Muslims, Dadu’s followers, sky-worshippers (falakia), malakia, materialists (ansaria), atheists (daharia), Brahmans and Jain priests.’ The letter presents the kernel of the Hindutva worldview. It is not against pluralism and diversity. In fact, it is proactively for preserving pluralism and diversity.
On the other hand, it is against expansionist monocultures of any sect or cult.

Shivaji’s letter recognises the right of Jews to exist as equal citizens and an independent spiritual people.

Thus, Hindutva recognises from its very inception, the Jewish right to live as an ancient and great part of human spiritual heritage. So, the Hindu-Hebrew collaboration in this regard dates back centuries. Gandhian Jewish scholar Yohanan Ben David in his paper, ‘The Jews of India with special reference to the Bene Israel’ writes:

The Bene Israel too felt threatened by the bigotry of Aurangazeb and Shivaji was as much their champion as he was of the Hindus. Even now Bene Israel speak with no less fervour than any Hindu in the ‘Kasba’ at Pune when recounting the deeds of Shivaji. Bene Israel families (even in Israel) preserve Maratha swords as heirlooms. … Kehimkar, for example, mentions the Bene Israel Churrikars who were Naiks of the Angre fleet. For their services, they received land in ‘inam’ and a Sarnad. A Bene Israel called Eloji, a poet, was consulted on financial matters and foreign policy by the Angre.

Yohanan Ben David, Indo-Judaic Studies: Some Papers, 2002

Painting at Mattancheri Synagogue showing the Hindu king granting land and rights to Rabbi. 
Painting at Mattancheri Synagogue showing the Hindu king granting land and rights to Rabbi. 

Yohanan Ben David points out that the Bene Israel had become so much part of Maratha society that they even Indianised their first names. ‘Elijah became Eloji; Samuel Samaji; Issac Isaji; and so on’. Elsewhere in South India, according to Jewish chronicles, Hindu king Sri Parkaran Iravi Vanmar granted Joseph Rabban the village of Anjuvannam and entitled the Rabbi to a palanquin and parasol – a royal status. Anjuvannam flourished as a little Jewish kingdom in itself until ‘the Portuguese put an end to this kingdom in 1565’. When the Catholic inquisition threatened the Jews, they fled to Cochin and the Hindu king there offered them protection. Yohanan Ben David makes a pertinent observation here:

For the next four hundred years, the Jews are treated with a liberality that surpasses all understanding. Here it should be emphasized that the Jewish experience in India was unique in Jewish history that there was no antisemitism whatsoever. The Jews were not discriminated against, expelled or exterminated, something that had been their common lot elsewhere.

Thus, Hindutva has consistently recognised the special place of Jews as original contributors to human spirituality, culture and civilisation. It is from this recognition that their love and support for Israel comes.




As against this, the ‘Palestinian’ movement in India has its roots in pan-Islamist, anti-Semitic as well as anti-Hindu politics. Mohammad Iqbal, the intellectual founder and guide of the Pakistan movement during the crucial period of the late 1930s to 1947, in a letter dated 28 May 1937, drew parallels between Hindus and Jews in undivided India and ‘Palestine’ respectively. In this letter, Iqbal even talked of ‘repeating Palestine’ in certain parts of north-west India. Later, in a letter marked ‘private and confidential’ to Jinnah on 7 October 1937, he spoke of the Palestinian issue as ‘a very fine opportunity for mass contact for the purposes of the League’. Muslim League converted these ideas into rabble rousing hate speeches against Hindus, comparing them with Jews, ultimately resulting in the genocidal fury of ‘Direct Action’ day violence against Hindus.

Muriel Lester, in whose house Gandhi stayed during his visit to England was at ground-zero of the Noakhali holocaust at Gandhi’s request. She described the storm troopers of the League as ‘well planned quite a Hitlerian network of folks’. Dr Ambedkar too had discovered Hitlerian methodology in the politics of Pakistan movement:

The Muslims are now speaking the language of Hitler and claiming a place in the sun as Hitler has been doing for Germany. For their demand for 50 per cent is nothing but a counterpart of the German claims for Deutschland Uber Alles and Lebensraum for themselves, irrespective of what happens to other minorities.

Thoughts On Pakistan, Chapter XI – Communal Aggression

The relation between the so-called Palestinian movement and Nazis is today a well established fact. How both Hitlerian anti-Hindu sentiment, as well as the anti-Semitism of the so-called ‘Palestinian’ movement morphed into anti-Hindu Pakistan movement with disastrous results for the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists who to this day are targets of genocide (1971) and continuous pogroms, is a much less studied phenomenon.

Jinnah also met here Hassan al-Banna, the leader of ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ and also a close comrade in arms of Mufti. Al-Banna had openly accepted Hitlerian methodology and Nazi hatred of Jews. Combining Nazi anti-Semitism with Islamic anti-Semitism, he noted that Hitler had taught him that the aim of propaganda was to incite ‘wrathful hatred’ and it should be incited as ‘an exterminationist hatred first of the Jews and then of anyone else who opposed Islam.’ (David Patterson, 2012) Al-Banna acknowledged Jinnah as the ‘Muslim leader par excellence’. Jinnah scholar Akbar Ahmed writes regarding the significance of this meeting:

The significance of Hassan al-Banna meeting Jinnah and writing to him in glowing terms is immense. The Muslim Brotherhood has over the last half-century grown in influence throughout the Middle East. Hassan al-Banna’s ideas on Islam, on the revival within the community, on pan-Islamism, on challenging the cultural and political supremacy of the West, on asserting an Islamic identity have had a huge influence well beyond the Arab world. Even today, al-Banna’s ideas reverberate throughout the Muslim world, putting pressure on governments to move towards Islam.

Jinnah, Pakistan And Islamic Identity: The Search For Saladin,Routledge,2005

Thus the support for the so-called ‘Palestinian’ cause has an anti-Hindu element embedded in it historically, whether we like it or not.

What lurks behind the so-called Palestinian movement is not a land problem but a theological inability to accept Jews and Judaism as a separate independent spiritual heritage of humanity having the right for existence. The Replacement theology which is at the heart of both Christian evangelism and puritanical Islamism demand that the Jewish scriptures have been overrun by their own messiah or prophet cults. So, all Jews have to do is to convert to either one of these two religions or, if they do not convert, the very reason for their existence is only to fulfill their role in end-time prophecies of these two religions. Each time a Christian speaks of Hebrew Bible as ‘Old Testament’ he or she inadvertently propagates deeply internalised anti-Semitism. For an Islamist, Jews are not just outdated but also villainous. The prevalent mindset of today’s Arabian common psyche is not much different from the pre-holocaust view of Jews by the Christendom.

Interestingly, the same religious anti-Semitism can be found in that ‘secular’ mutation of expansionist Christianity – Marxism. Karl Marx, himself a Jew whose family converted to a section of virulently anti-Semitic Lutheran Christianity, embraced anti-Semitism in his ideological formulations. Author Louis Rapoport writes:

Long before the alleged Jewish plot discerned by Dostoevsky and the author of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Marx inadvertently encourages the anti-Semitic myth that the Jews controlled the world’s money markets. He portrayed the Rothschild banking family as the personification of cancerous capitalism, as would countless as other socialists and in his correspondence made occasional remarks of an incipiently anti-Semitic nature, as when he expressed admiration of ancient Egypt for expelling the ‘nation of lepers’. … The man who became Lenin was not at all personal anti-Semitic, in the manner of Marx or Stalin but he did preach that it was essential for Jews to disappear through total assimilation.

‘Stalin’s War Against The Jews’, Collier Macmillan, 1990

For the right-wing Christians of the Nazi type, the Jews were the problem makers creating Marxist and Bolshevik revolution, so they had to be eliminated. For the left-wing, either the Jews had to disappear, or they were part of the bourgeois elite – the most evil capitalist manipulators against socialism. For the evangelical Christian right-wing, the Jews and Israel have only one value – part of their end-time prophecy. For the Islamists, the Jews are a living negation of their prophet’s claim to be the final prophet and hence they were a cursed people.

Based on this deep hatred and prejudices against Jews, each of these forces had their own reason to oppose Israel, limitedly support it, or weaken it. The theological hatred of course cannot be exhibited as such in modern secular environment today and hence the anti-Semitism of the left provides an excellent secular camouflage. And if Israel itself cannot be deprived of its physical existence, let us at least weaken it psychologically by denying it its rightful ownership of Jerusalem, her spiritual capital, or so seems the case.

Hence, any denial of Israel’s right over Jerusalem as its capital is a denial of human pluralism and true secularism. Let us recognise the fact that Jerusalem primarily belongs to Judaism. Any claim Christianity or Islam may make of the holy city is only secondary and definitely cannot replace the Judaic heart of Jerusalem. For Christianity and Islam, Jerusalem contains some of their holy places whereas for Judaism and the Jew, Jerusalem is in itself completely holy and inviolate. By recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the Christian and Islamic world can bring themselves out of the theo-psychological cages they have places themselves for almost 2,000 and 1,300 years respectively.

And that brings in the role of India. Post-Independent India has long been misdirected in its Israel policies by vote-bank politics. Thus, it supported the so-called Palestinian cause which has always stood against India and Hindus. Now, India should free herself of the vote-bank politics and myopic vision. Recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is a civilisational duty of India.

Let two ancient spiritual nations and modern nation-states reinforce in all humanity that spiritual streams of varied nature add vitality to our planet and we can all live with the goodwill and mutual respect in this pale blue dot of ours.

Originally Published in Swarajaya

India cancels $500 million Missile Deal With Israel…Now What?

As the Indian-Israeli relationship continues to grow and mature to something akin to long-lost cousins rediscovering each other, something strange appears to have happened. The Indian MoD has decided to cancel a $500 million deal for anti-tank missiles signed with Rafael in 2014.

The Indian Express reported the following on Monday:

“Ministry sources told The Indian Express that the decision to cancel the deal was based on the consideration that importing a foreign ATGM at this stage would adversely impact the programme for indigenous development of the weapon system by DRDO. Earlier, India had also rejected an offer from US-based Raytheon-Lockheed Martin for Javelin ATGM in favour of the Israeli weapon system.”

While this may seem like a serious dent in future relations between Israel and India, it isn’t and nor should it be.  The misnomer outsiders have involving the relationship between Israel and India revolves around the misunderstanding that the special relationship between the two countries is one tactical and two based on defense sales from Israel to India.

These two notions should be disposed of immediately.  The relationship between India and Israel has been growing from the ground up for over two decades.  While India recognized Israel in 1950, the two did not begin formal relations until 1990.  It was initially Israelis post the army that began to travel to India in a way which created a real grassroots relationship.

These Israelis brought back stories and connections.  These inspired more Israelis to travel to India.  When the tech boom happened Israeli companies sought out inexpensive yet quality programming in India. The economic relationship continued to be built in a decentralized manner.

Both Indians and Israelis recognize that their cultures are ancient and with that recognition a special bond has been built over the years.  Afterall, while Jews lived in exile, they appeared to have found the best treatment in India.

The reasons for the cancellation of the Rafael deal may not seem business like by Western standards, but Israelis should be supportive of India’s strategic goal of self-reliance even if it hits us in the pocket in the short-term.  It is important that alliances and strategic partnerships are based on mutual benefits where neither side holds an upper hand.  An India, which is truly independent is an India that is far better for Israel in the long term.

With all of this being said, the Indian Express reported in the same article that “the Indian military, which currently uses an inferior anti-tank missile that does not work well at night, reportedly expressed concerns that the decision to scrap the Spike deal would negatively affect its preparedness, and that there was ‘operational urgency’ for the Israeli missile.”

India, like Israel appears in need of balancing its short-term military necessities while constantly building home-grown defense equipment.  With the geopolitical circumstances around India entering a far more manic and uncertain stage, both Israel and India would do well to help each other build short-term and long-term approaches to defense partnerships.

India is Fast Becoming a Central Player in America’s Recalibration in Asia

With all of the focus on President Trump’s new Afghanistan policy, the other sections of the speech given Monday hold within them a major shift in policy in Asia.

President Trump said the following:

“The next pillar of our new strategy is to change the approach in how to deal with Pakistan. We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organizations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond.”

“Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists. In the past, Pakistan has been a valued partner. Our militaries have worked together against common enemies. The Pakistani people have suffered greatly from terrorism and extremism.  We recognize those contributions and those sacrifices, but Pakistan has also sheltered the same organizations that try every single day to kill our people. We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars, at the same time they are housing the same terrorists that we are fighting. But that will have to change. And that will change immediately.”

Then Trump spoke about India, as if to indicate America’s intention to shift away from Pakistan to India.

“Another critical part of the South Asia strategy or America is to further develop its strategic partnership with India, the world’s largest democracy and a key security and economic harbor of the United States. We appreciate India’s important contributions to stability in Afghanistan, but India makes billions of dollars in trade with the United States, and we want them to help us more with Afghanistan, especially in the area of economic assistance and development. We are committed to pursuing our shared objectives for peace and security in South Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region.”
This is seismic. In one speech, Trump realigns US foreign policy away from Pakistan and towards an ascending India. Furthermore, India is essentially dealing with the same threats as America. Both countries face a growing threat in China and of course India and the US are direct targets of radical Islamic terror, much of it grown in Shiite dominated Pakistan.
The fact that China and Pakistan have a growing partnership underscores the need for the US to recalibrate its approach in both Central and East Asia. India affords Trump the possibility to create a new order in Asia.  One that is not built around propping up despotic or corrupt governments that have a revolving door policy on radical Islamic terrorists.
Trump’s firm outreach to India instantly changes the nature of the game with China. The skirmishes with Chinese forces in Bhutan may seem like a prelude to the next war, but in reality Modi’s firm stance and now Trump’s clear backing will act as a deterrent.
Look for Israeli technology, especially in the UAV sector to become a critical part in monitoring China’s actions in the Himalayas. It is no accident that the three countries, USA, India and Israel share many of the same threats and have begun to build an alliance to push back on them.
Trump’s recognition that India’s position in the region can be utilized to dissuade China from making any destabilizing moves is important.  Furthermore, the most important part of this shift is the ending of what has been a presidential strategy spanning both Bush and Obama in partnering with Pakistan against terror and the Taliban.
The growing Israel, India, and US alliance may be a game changer in Asia. With threats on the Indian sub-continent growing daily, this alliance is key to safeguarding its peace and security.

 

What’s Going On Behind the India China Standoff in Doklam

The standoff between India and China in the Doklam plateau has now expanded past two months with increasing signs that a full-scale war cold break out between the two countries.  The area in question is a small piece of land in dispute between China and the small mountain kingdom Buhtan in the Himalayas.

Given the strategic location of Doklam, resting near to India’s Siliguri corridor, the dispute has drawn in the Indian army on the side of tiny Bhutan. Yet, there is more to the maneuver.  China has been a thorn in India’s side ever since it decided to boost Pakistan’s armed forces.  As the dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir continues to simmer, China’s move is seen with great apprehension by India.

Map of conflict zone.

More than this, China’s regional ambitions in both the Himalayas on its Southwestern border and the South China Sea to its Southeast have begun to draw in multiple powers concerned with Chinese expansion.  It is not secret that Modi in India and Trump in the USA have an open and friendly relationship.  This relationship between India and the USA is important in rolling back Chinese expansionism.

Will There Be War in the Himalayas?

With tensions rising between China and India over the Doklam, many pundits believe that war is inevitable, but there is another possibility and that China is far weaker than most believe.  This is where the bravado of Narendra Modi comes in.  Understanding the Chinese mentality of never entering a war it is not assured of winning is the key to pushing back against Chinese imperialism.

“Security is our top priority,” Modi said in a speech before thousands at the landmark Red Fort in New Delhi as the country marked the 70th anniversary of the end of British colonial rule.

“Be it the sea or the borders, cyber or space – in all spheres, India is capable and we are strong enough to overcome those who try to act against our country,” the Hindu nationalist leader declared.

Bhutan Will Not Be Another Tibet

The Chinese government will only subjugate those it knows are weaker.  We saw this in the 1950’s when the Chinese conquered a weaker Tibet and still occupies the country. In fact it is from Tibet that the Chinese are moving against Bhutan.

With India on the rise regionally and globally, China has limited options in the region.  Bhutan wisely asked the Indian government to enter the kingdom on their behalf and doing so scrambled China’s strategy of preying on a weaker neighbor.

If Modi’s gamble similar to Trump’s on the Korean penninsula works, it reveals that the Chinese will only go so far in the current global turbulence to attain their goals.

Israel in the Middle

With Israel and India upgrading their relationship to that of a strategic partnership, Israel effectively placed itself in the middle of India and China.  Yet, the upgrade itself is an indicator that Israel has perhaps begun to view what was once seen as a strategic realignment with China as little more than an economic move.  The growing Indian, Israel, and US alliance may prove formidable in pushing back an ascedent Russia and China in the future.

Israel is now the lynchpin towards a growing realignment in the region by way of its contacts, intelligence, and technology.  These relationships throughout Africa, Kurdistan, central Asia, and India have the potential for reshaping a post unipolar world.

 

Israel’s Growing Alliance with India Exposes the Weakness of its China Policy

After Modi’s historic visit to Israel, questions remain on how the elevated partnership between Israel and India will play in China. Israel’s relationship with China has steadily grown and while this has not been a huge boon for trade, it has been an excellent gateway to Asia for Israeli innovation.

India and China have fought three wars since India’s independence and although they have an advanced trade relationship their disputes have created tension between the two countries.  With India battling Islamic militants on its Western border and an open dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, China’s support Pakistan’s claim to Kashmir as well as its military support for Pakistan has increasingly unnerved India.

Israel has long viewed its entry into Asia as one of neutrality. This is due to Israel’s perception that its role in Asia is purely economic.  Israel’s growing partnership with India, culminating in Modi’s visit changes that assumption. India and Israel see one another as kindred spirits bound from their ancient roots. In truth, the same relationship could have grown in China, but it has remained largely surface level and business oriented.

With Chinese expansion under Xi Jinping more than just economic, India’s partnership with Israel has triggered  a realignment within Middle East affiars.  Noticebly, Modi’s visit to Israel did not include Ramallah. In fact the most Modi has done is to give ceremonial mention of the “two-state” solution. Compare this to China who has been openly courting Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas is scheduled to visist China for three days where he is expected to ask Xi to support the “Palestinians” in international forums. More than this, there is talk of China financially supporting the PA.

Israel’s assumption was that China could be convinced to eventually move to a neutral position when it came to Israel and the Palestinians. This has not happened.  The growing Israel-Indo partnership has forced China to align itself with those groups who are antagonistic to Israel. China’sdrive for hegemony beyond its regionconfronts Israel with a dilemma. Does it push back on China by strengething its relationship with India even more or do they keep the status quo?

With China openly courting the Palestinians and supporting Pakistan, the ball is in Israel’s court to carve out a place where their alliance with India does not force those players in the Middle East to over power the Jewish State due to help from China.

MODI IN ISRAEL: Bonding the biggest & most beleaguered democracies

Clearly reflecting the impact of the change in Indian policy towards Israel was the chagrin expressed by the Palestinian envoy to New Delhi: “We were shocked…”

A curious Indian stops a passing Israeli backpacker on a New Delhi street. “Tell me,” he asks, “how many Israelis are there?”

“I’m not quite sure,” the backpacker answers. “About six million.”

“No, no no,” retorts the Indian, “not just in New Delhi. I mean all together.”

The humor of this well-known joke reflects a remarkable reality which helps understand the huge enthusiasm this week’s landmark visit of the Indian Prime Minister Nahindra Modi generated, and clearly heralded a “change of gears” in relations between the two countries.

Hindu-Jewish affinity

Each year, over 60,000  Israelis travel to India –many of them “unwinding” in the country after completing military service. Their presence is highly visible across much of the country. Indeed, the “giant shadow” Israelis cast in India is wildly disproportionate to the miniscule dimensions of their homeland. In some outlying locations, Israelis comprise a dominant percentage of foreign visitors. Even in central sites such as the main market in Old Delhi it is not uncommon to see Hebrew signs and encounter merchants able to converse with Israeli customers in fairly fluent Hebrew.

That Israelis seem to feel an instinctive affinity for India should perhaps not be surprising. Its history is virtually devoid of antisemitism. Indeed, the only significant incidents were the Moors’ attack on the Jews in 1524 and the Portuguese persecution of Jews in Cranganore (now the Kerala coast) some years later. Moreover, many Indian Jews achieved great prominence, among them the Sassoons (for whom the Sassoon docks, the Sassoon hospital, and other well-known sites have been named), Dr. E. Moses (a Jewish mayor of Bombay), Lt. Gen. J. F. R. Jacobs (a general in the Indian Army who oversaw the Pakistani Army’s 1971 surrender in Bangladesh and later served as governor of Goa and Punjab), Nissim Ezekiel (a poet/leading Indian literary personality), and Dr. Abraham Solomon Erulkar (the personal physician/friend of Mahatma Gandhi).

Dispersing ideo-political cloud of “post-colonial” prejudice

However, Indo-Israeli relations were not always characterized by such warmth.

On the political and diplomatic fronts, the two nations were largely estranged for the four decades following their independence in the late 1940s. Thus, although India recognized the State of Israel in 1950, the then-ruling Congress Party eschewed full diplomatic relations, siding with the Palestinians and denouncing what many in its ranks termed the “Zionist enterprise” as an imperialist creation of Western colonial powers.

Additional factors also weighed against close and cordial bilateral bonds:  New Delhi’s fear of antagonizing its large Muslim population; pressures from the Islamic world, India’s major source of energy; the fate of the many Indian workers in the Gulf States, and the anti-Israeli attitude of the non-aligned movement, in which India was a leading member.

Moreover, in terms of strategic allegiances, an additional rift between the two states existed: Israel aligned itself firmly with the United States, while India, then traditionally suspicious of American foreign policy, opted for close links with the Soviet Union. The significant disparity between the two countries hardly boded well for mutual cooperation between them. However, since the early 1990s, with the fall of the Soviet bloc and the accelerating liberalization of the Indian economy, considerable changes began to take place, bringing with them a marked convergence of Indo-Israeli interests.

The culmination of this process took place in 1992, when full diplomatic relations were established. Since then, a burgeoning relationship has blossomed, whose vigor, cordiality and durability have taken both its proponents and its opponents by surprise.

Removing the reticence

The establishment of full diplomatic ties between Jerusalem and New Delhi allowed the underlying Indo-Israeli affinity to express itself. Yet, until the Modi government came to power there has been a perceptible reticence, or at least reserve, on the part of India with regard to its relationship with Israel.

One particular sore point was India’s consistent support of anti-Israel resolutions in international forums, such as the UN. One commentator characterized the Israeli perception in the following terms: Israel has long complained that India treats it like a mistress: glad to partake of its defense and technology charms, but a little embarrassed about the whole thing and unwilling to make the relationship too public.”

But with the rise to power of the Modi government, this restraint is beginning to fade discernably, and India has ceased to support a number of motions of censure against Israel in several UN bodies. Clearly reflecting the impact of this change was the chagrin expressed by the Palestinian envoy to New Delhi, at India’s decision not to support a resolution condemning Israel: “We were shocked. The Palestinian people and the leaders were very happy with the UN resolution, but the voting of India has broken our happiness.

Indeed, Modi’s effusively warm physical embrace of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he descended from the plane that brought him to Israel, seems to have unequivocally melted away any residual reticence that might have remained.

Modi’s landmark visit

The visit of Indian Prime Minister Modi is undeniably a landmark event of potentially historical proportions. Attesting to this is the virtually unprecedented attention he has been given by the media and the public in Israel—far beyond that accorded most visiting heads of government.

As the first Indian premier to visit the Jewish State, Modi has unabashedly cast aside any restraint in forging future relations with Israel. Indeed, despite his country’s heavy reliance on oil from the Middle East (or “Western Asia” as the Indians tend to call it)—chiefly Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran—Modi appears to have come to the conclusion that India has more to gain from throwing in its lot with Israel than with the Arab States, who seem to consistently lend their support to India’s rival, Pakistan.

Two of Modi’s decisions on this trip—perhaps more symbolic than substantive—seem to distil out the essence of the new Indian approach to Israel: The one, political; the other, humanitarian.

The first was the Indian PM’s decision not to include the customary visit to Ramallah, made by virtually all visiting senior statesmen to maintain the appearance of scrupulous even-handedness in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Landmark visit (cont.)

Thus despite the fact that the Indian government continues to declare its ongoing support for the “Palestinian cause” there can be no glossing over the implicit message in Modi’s decision to skip—some might say, snub—the Palestinian Authority by excluding any meeting with any of its senior representatives.

In this, he showed commendable courage in flouting the bonds of the constrictive conventions of political correctness—and the willingness to break from past patterns, which bodes well for the independent development of bilateral relations in the future.

The other defining event was Modi’s decision to visit  Moshe (Moish) Holtzberg, the boy whose parents,  Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, were murdered in a 2008  attack on the Chabad center in Mumbai by an Islamist terrorist group based in Pakistan. The attack was one of a dozen carried out throughout the city in late November, 2008, that left 164 dead and at least 308 wounded.

In making this moving gesture, Modi not only showed a laudable sensitivity on a personal level, but also underscored the common threats/enemies faced by both countries and the joint perils that menace both Israelis and Indians.   

So although the visit included a dizzying array of sites and installations, highlighting  Israel’s capabilities and achievements in culture, technology, agriculture, and security it was these two events—resolute moral clarity on the one hand and human empathy on the other—that imparted a distinctive quality to the visit—making it one of the most memorable in years.

Indeed, as one scholar of Indo-Israeli ties, Souptik Mukherjee, pointed out:  “While the visit has many dimensions, the most important aspect is not the joint development of arms, not the prospect of free trade agreement but rather the shared values and historical ties.” 

Marrying “Make in India” with “Make with India”

The visit also produced some interesting rhetorical innovations.  

In September 2015 Modi launched his “Make in India” initiative to encourage foreign corporations to manufacture their products in India.  To date it appears to be an impressive success, with India emerging as the top destination globally for foreign direct investment, surpassing the United States and China!

In his effusive welcoming address on Modi’s arrival, Netanyahu  mentioned  Modi’s “Make in India” project and added  a twist, suggesting  an additional project: ”Make with India” in which both countries, would exploit the synergies of Indo-Israeli cooperation and engage in joint ventures across a range of civilian and military fields.

Given the huge nascent consumer demand in India, its burgeoning middle class, the daunting security challenges it faces from both state and non-state actors innately hostile to Israel as well, there is little doubt that both formulae—Israeli manufacturing plants in Israel, and joint Indo-Israel projects in either country—offer almost boundless prospects.

Referring to ongoing cooperation in the field of space, Netanyahu underscored–with a touch of hyperbole—the almost limitless opportunities a marriage of “Make in India” and “Make with India” could create.  He recalled: I remember what you told me in our first meeting – when it comes to India and Israel relations, the sky is the limit. But now, prime minister, let me add [that] even the sky is not the limit. We are also cooperating in space.”

A personal sense of vindication

While the Modi visit and the surge in Indo-Israeli ties is an historic event for the Jewish State at a national level, it is for me, at a personal level, a gratifying vindication of many years of my prior efforts.

With all due (im)modesty, I was—to the best of my knowledge—the first Israeli to write, in detail, about the strategic importance of India’s international ascendency for Israel.

Almost two decades ago, in early 1999, I published a policy paper, together with a prominent Indian scholar, the late Prof. M. L. Sondhi, one of the original pro-Israeli voices in India. The paper we collaborated on was entitled “Indo-Israeli cooperation as a US national interest. It was a paper that predicted/prescribed much of the later developments between the two countries, across a range of various fields.

We saw the resilient nature of the democratic governance of the two countries, which straddle a vast area of unbroken tyranny, as an important element in bolstering the bilateral bond between the two nations.

The durability and sustainability of democratic governance in both Israel and India should not be taken for granted. Indeed, it should be recalled that both countries’ democracies have faced serious challenges that could well have been conducive to more authoritarian forms of government. Both India and Israel are countries ringed by hostile enemies; the societies in both countries include potentially fractious and rivalrous ethnic groups, creating fertile grounds for internal strife. Both have weathered the trauma of political assassination and external wars on their borders. Yet despite these severe challenges, the commitment of both countries to democratic governance, societal pluralism and official respect for religious diversity have never wavered.

An idea whose time has come…

Significantly, one of the areas which we identified as being of particular potential was that of cooperation in the naval sphere, especially in regard to security in the Indian Ocean, predicting that, in light of the specter of a potential non-conventional threat, it would become an increasingly important theatre of operations for Israel. This has indeed proved true in light of Iran’s nuclear program, greatly enhancing its strategic importance for Israel’s navy and especially its submarine arm, which has become a vital component of Israel’s second-strike capability and its deterrence posture vis-a-vis a nuclear rival.

It is, of course, most satisfying to see many of the recommendations which Sondhi and I made come to fruition.

French poet Victor Hugo famously wrote: “All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come.

This certainly appears to be the case with the flourishing Indo-Israeli nexus. Indeed, Sondhi and I concluded the executive summary of our paper thus: “…it appears that the time is right for Israel to establish a special relationship with the world’s largest democracy, similar to the relationship that it has developed with the world’s strongest democracy. ..[This], is likely to have a vital role in advancing the principles of liberty and pluralism, and insuring regional stability in an extensive and important portion of the world where such principles are under continual siege.”

Surely, then, this is an idea whose time has come.

WORLD CHANGE: Why the Modi Visit to Israel is set to Radically Reshape the World

We are living in amazing times. History will show that this three-day visit by Neandra Modi to Israel was a moment in world history when two of the most ancient cultures decided to leave the prism of their past behind and work together in order to build a strategic partnership that would not only benefit one another, but the world.

Israel and India are thousands of years old.  Judaism and Hinduism are the two most ancient spiritual paths in the world. It is under this backdrop and the geopolitical turmoil in which we see the old power structure of the west and its colonial and neo-colonial influences collapse that these two countries have begun to rise.

Modi’s visit comes after more than a decade worth of growing ties between the two countries.  These political ties are built on the back of thousands of years of personal relationships between Jews and Hindus.  These relationships were built on respect of one another.  Jews have been living in India for more than 2000 years and during that time no tinge of anti-Semitism was expressed.

In a world that has seen the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and the weakening of the post cold-war order these cultural ties have grown far more overt as more and more Israelis have spent time in India backpacking and taking a breather after the army.  Indians have taken the opportunity to visit the only Jewish State, to learn and admire another ancient culture.

Technology Partnership Built by the People

Israel, being the technology powerhouse it is has built many of its tech partnerships with other countries through government introduction.  With India it has been built by the people itself. Indian programmers have become the go to source for Israeli teams for the last decade.  Both groups have worked together on virtual teams and learned how to achieve success an ocean away.

It is no accident that as Prime Netanyahu said, “The two most spoken languages in Silicon Valley are Hebrew and Hindi.”

Strategic Importance

During Modi’s visit to Israel and after several closed-door sessions that lasted four hours each, the two countries elevated their relationship to a Strategic Partnership and signed seven MOU’s.  Beyond these developments as well as the announcement of a direct flight between Tel Aviv and Mombai/New Dehli, the partnership erases the false narrative of “Palestinian” indignity and rightful rebellion against the “Jewish Occupier.”

India has always been admired by third world countries in Africa and the Middle East as the leader against the International European colonial regime.  The Jewish State was seen as part of this unwanted colonial regime. With the growing ties and Modi’s about-face on Israel’s place within the broader neo-colonialist dynamic it is the Palestinians who have been exposed as the European tool to divide and conquer the Levant.  Afterall, the Palestinians are supported and funded by the EU.  It is also the Europeans who have bolstered Islamic regimes and totalitarian governments, which have burned a path through indigenous communities from Africa to the MIddle East, to the Indian Sub-Continent.

For Indians, who have known for decades if not more, that the mentality of Jihad is just another form of colonialist aspirations, the Modi visit is only natural in exposing the lie of Islamic indigineity in Africa, Israel, and India.

It is no accident that India and Israel’s embrace of one another has come after tens of Sub-Sahara African countries have turned to Israel as a partner and friend. India’s partnership is an erasure and exposure of European implanted lies within the context of their own need to exploit and expand using the land of ancient cultures in Africa, the Middle East, and India.  The Europeans did this by unleashing the Islamic hordes within the wider Arab world through turning one against another and finally setting them upon non-Islamic Africans, Jews, Druze, Arameans, Kurds, Indians, native Pashtun in Afghanistan, and more.

Modi’s visit is about the future and it is about rectifying a narrative that was injected by a self-serving Europe who sought to twist history for its own purposes.

In three days, India and Israel have found themselves again.  They have taken a path away from their former colonial masters who wanted only to divide the two in order to conquer. This partnership will be built on true friendship and goodwill.

To see a touch of just how genuine this is, Netanyahu and Modi met Moshe Holtzberg – an Israeli child who as a toddler survived the 2008 terror attack at a Jewish centre in Mumbai. Moshe, now 11, read out a welcome note for PM Modi, saying “Dear Mr Modi, I love you”.

Modi tweeted this moving image during the visit.

Friendships are built on the little things. It is those little things, from basic respect, mutual work relationships, and truly feeling another’s pain that India and Israel find themselves in a relationship that is both ancient and entirely innovative.  This is the partnership that the next phase of world development can and will be built on.

BIBI NETANYAHU TO MODI: “I welcome you here to our home in Jerusalem. Welcome friend.”

PM Netanyahu: We face common challenges, the first of which is to defeat the forces of terror that rampage through the world and threaten both our countries. We must stand together in this battle, much as we work together to perfect the future.

Below is the full statement (Communicated by the Prime Minister’s Media Adviser) given by Prime Minister Netanyahu to Prime Minister Modi of India who is visiting Israel in a historical visit as both countries cement their global partnership.

“Thank you. Welcome to Jerusalem, my friend, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. You know, you have only been here a few hours and you have already visited Yad Vashem, you paid your respects at the tomb of the founder of our national movement, Theodor Herzl and you’ve seen some of Israel’s cutting edge technology. We went to a greenhouse on a warm day, believe me it was a warm reception.

So, you’ve had a glimpse of our painful past but also of our promising future. And we’re very excited to host you here. We have a great admiration for the people of India. I told you about my late uncle, Professor Elisha Netanyahu, he was a mathematician at the Israel Institute of Technology and he told me many times about his admiration for the great Indian mathematician Ramanujan. He said he was the greatest mathematician of the 20th century but he said he was perhaps the greatest mathematician in many many centuries. And this symbolizes the talents of the people of India. As we know, we have the talents of the people of Israel. And we believe in this partnership of talent.

We both seek a better future for our peoples. Doing so requires a lot of work. It won’t happen overnight but Prime Minister Modi and I have the same trait – we both want it to happen overnight. We are tireless reformers and I want to congratulate you, Prime Minister, on the reforms that you’re doing to change India’s economy and we both believe that we can do together great things for the betterment of the future of our peoples.

I have to confess to you that I’ve been inspired by Prime Minister Modi’s enthusiasm for yoga to begin. He said to me: you can start at a low level, choose your level. So I’m starting at a low level and here’s what we’re going to do. When I do a relaxing Tadasana pose, in the morning I’ll turn my head to the right, India is the first democracy that I’ll see. And when Prime Minister Modi does a relaxing pose of Vasisthasana and he turns his head to the left, Israel is the first democracy that you can see. So, in fact we have India and Israel are two sister democracies. In fact, together we account for about 20% of the world’s population. But although we are unequal in size, we’re equal in spirit. We believe we can accomplish great things. We have accomplished great things and we have many many more opportunities to seize together in the future.

But I have to say that we also face common challenges and the first of it is to defeat the forces of terror that rampage through the world and threaten both our countries. So we must stand together in this battle, much as we work together to perfect the future.

Prime Minister, we share a bond of democracy and creativity, a deep respect for the past, a boundless optimism for the future and it’s in this spirit, my friend Narendra, of close cooperation and deepest friendship that I welcome you here to our home in Jerusalem. Welcome friend.”