Smruti D

In the run up to Israeli snap elections, as parties began campaigning, then Prime Minister of the country, Benjamin Netanyahu, at his party headquarters in Tel Aviv displayed separate, life-size posters of his pictures with world leaders including the then US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ahead of the national elections that year, Netanyahu in fact even planned to visit India. However, the visit was called off.

Former Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu with PM Modi

Flashback 2018, Modi, and Netanyahu, in a show of friendship, embarked on an 8 km-long road show from the airport to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. Around 50 stages had been erected on the roadside along the stretch to showcase performances by troupes of different states to welcome the guests. While political observers, on a lighter note, termed every Modi-Netanyahu picture as ‘bromance’, it signified a huge policy change on India’s part in its engagement with the middle eastern country. Especially because the previous governments had limited the closeness between the two countries to matters related to defence technology. Modi, who visited Israel in 2017, became the first Indian prime minister to do so.

India’s external affairs minister, Dr S. Jaishankar was in Israel for ‘high-level talks’ in October 2021. This was Jaishankar’s first visit after assuming the ministerial position. The visit, just as the ones undertaken by government officials, including Prime Minister Modi, are a marker of the growing India-Israel ties. Even as the two countries share decades-old bilateral ties, the association currently being undertaken looks of a more comprehensive nature.

At a meeting with the CEOs of Israeli companies and government officials, the Times of Israel reported that Jaishankar went on to say that India regarded Israel “in many ways as perhaps our most trusted and innovative partner.” He said that the degree of trust between the two countries was very high. Ron Malka, the economy ministry director-general, and a former ambassador to India, added that Israel’s ties with India are “the biggest achievement we have done with any country in international affairs.” He called the relationship “a key strategic partnership.” Towards the end of his visit, Jaishankar had discussed a ‘wide range’ of regional and global issues and agreed to resume Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations from November. The two countries aim at concluding these by mid-2022. They also agreed on mutual recognition of vaccination certificates and expanded cooperation in water and agriculture. He welcomed Israel to be a member of the International Solar Alliance initiated by India. Jaishankar’s Israel visit mainly aimed at forging ties with the new Bennett-Lapid government that took over in June this year. Israel and India helped one another during the COVID-19 pandemic. On this Lapid said, “That is how friends and partners act.” Apart from business community leaders, he held talks with leading academics in Israel and interacted with the Indian Jewish community.

India and Israel elevated their ties to strategic partnership in 2017, exactly 25 years after they formed diplomatic ties. Cooperation between both the countries was limited to defence technology. For India, Israel is one of the leading arms exporters. Doctoral Candidate, Centre for West Asian/ Middle Eastern Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia (University), Afroz Khan says, “India-Israel relations were initially based on strategic and defence-related cooperation. Other than defence, the diamond industry was another important source of bilateral trade between the two countries. But this has changed significantly in the recent decade. There is a growing consensus among a large section of Indians that Israel is essential for India’s security. The current Indian government has extens