Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Indo-Israeli relations strengthened' that was published in Newsband

Indo-Israeli relations strengthened

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visited India. India and Israel have fully normalised bilateral ties. In 2003 Ariel Sharon was the first Israeli Prime Minister to visit India. In 2015 President Pranab Mukherjee visited Israel, and in 2017 Narendra Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel.

Netanyahu’s six-day visit led to a joint statement that drew a 25-year timeline in which to realise the potential of the strategic partnership. Both realized that India has “size and scale” and Israel has “sharpness and edge”.  The two countries have a “natural partnership” and a “natural friendship” that also caters to their need for hard power. Hence the two can make a great combination.

The joint statement “reaffirmed their support for an early resumption of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians”. Jordan’s King Abdullah II is due in New Delhi shortly. India has built the leverage over the decades among Israelis and Palestinians in order to join global and regional powers in pushing them back to the negotiating table.

Netanyahu said: “The weak don’t survive. The strong survive. You make peace with the strong. You ally with the strong.” Netanyahu's language about only the strong surviving is eerily reminiscent of Hitler and the Nazi discourse. Here India has to be careful. India believes that the strong should ALLOW the weak to survive. Palestine and Israel can live side by side if there is a will to be fair and truthful. 'Land' whether in Israel or in India or anywhere on the planet is not for a 'personal lordship'. It allows 'space' for each of us to 'live and let live'.

However, if China is the 'All weather friend' of Pakistan, then Israel should be our all weather friend. Let us not forget that it was Israel which came to our rescue when we faced military confrontation from our neighbours.

It is the adaptabilty to various environments and situations that enables India's survival and makes its citizens truly global. Qualified Indians need to enhance their confidence to ally with their own nation, not sell themselves as brainy and enterprising slaves to nations that oppress.

What you are is what you are doing not what you are saying. Let us be prepared to ally even with the devils if it helps to bring peace and amicable settlement but not with angels if it bring the opposite. If Israel can survive despite surrounded by the hostile Sunni and Shia groups, who also cut each others throats, and yet be a successful democracy, increasing its wealth and being always innovative, then there is hope for India despite Pakistan's perpetual deceit and attacks along the J and K border and China's weekly pronouncements that one or other part of India belongs to China because of the bad boundary lines drawn by the colonists. All we have to do is be united internally and strong militarily equipped with modern tools of warfare. But only difference is: India has left-and communist-sympathizers, who are actually worse than the communists themselves, not to speak of those with anti-Indian, pro-Muslim agenda-all in the name of secularism.

But one should admit that Modi is doing the best for our country to make ourselves the Vishwa-Guru by having good relations with other countries.

When we discuss India-Israel relations we cannot overlook that situation seventy years ago was different than what it is today. We have to make efforts to ensure that our friendship with Israel will not hurt our relationship with the Arab world. Both Israel and Palestine have a right to exist and live as neighbours. Basic objective of our foreign policy should be to ensure that both Israel & Palestine accept co-existence. Unfortunately, Palestine’s fundamentalist leaders and some Islamic countries are still not ready to accept that Israel has a right to exist. Similarly rightist political parties of Israel are responsible for creating tension in Israel-Palestine relationship. Increasing cooperation between India & Israel can be mutually beneficial. Let us hope that we will be in a position to maintain right balance between Israel and Arab/Islamic world even as we increase our trade with Israel.

India should also not forget that the way Israel can help in defence and security of our western borders is amazing and the friendship being renovated by Modi will usher in tackling Pakistan incursions which has been a menace so far. India had earlier suffered because of our appeasement foreign policy.