India Israel Relations
Syllabus
Recent developments in Indian Foreign Policy : India’s position on the recent crises in
Afghanistan, Iraq and West Asia, growing relations with US and Israel ; Vision of a new world
order.
PYQs
1. Can Israel be termed a 'natural ally' of India? (20 Marks/200 words/ 2010)
2. In the history of foreign policy, seldom have relations between any two nations
blossomed as fast as they have in the case of India& Israel. Discuss.(15 marks/ 200
words/ 2014)
3. Discuss the realistic foreign policy initiatives taken by India to balance its relations
between Israel and the Arab world.(15 marks/200 words/2015)
4. Has the recent Indo-Israeli relationships given a new dynamics to India's stand on
Palestinian statehood?(10 marks/ 150 words/ 2017)
5. "The growing closeness between India and Israel will strengthen the cause of
Palestine. Comment.(10 Marks/150 words/ 2019)
Evolution of the relations
Experts identify 3 phases in India-Israel relations:
1. 1947 to 1992 : Based on Gandhian and Nehruvian principles; sympathy towards the
Palestinian Arabs.
2. 1992 to 2014 :Post-cold war and Post Gulf war reorientation and commencement of
official diplomatic links.
3. 2014 to present : A more "close r and constructive engagement" with Israel under
Prime Minister Modi.
From Nehru to Rao (1947 to 1992)
In 1948, India was the only non-Arab-state among 13 countries
that voted against the UN partition plan of Palestine in the
General Assembly that led to the creation of Israel.
PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s reasoning for the decision to recognise
Israel was that it was “an established fact”, and that not doing
so would create rancour between two UN members. A consulate in Mumbai was established
in 1953 .
At the 53rd UN session, India co-sponsored the draft resolution on the right of the
Palestinians to self-determination.
In the 1967 and 1973 wars, India lashed out at Israel as the aggressor.
In the 1970s, India rallied behind the PLO and its leader Yasser Arafat as the sole and
legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
In 1975, India became the first non-Arab country to recognise the PLO as the sole
representative of the Palestinian people.
In 1988, when the PLO declared an independent state of Palestine with its capital in East
Jerusalem, India granted recognition immediately. Arafat was received as head of state
whenever he visited India.
Gandhi on the Israel-Palestine Conflict
Gandhi’s way of looking at the Palestine issue had the
imprint of both ideological as well as political
considerations. As per Simone Panter-Brick’s book, Gandhi
and the Middle East (2008), Gandhi admitted that he was
sympathetic to their “age-long persecution” of the Jews.
But, he proceeded to see it in the light of the valid claims of
the other side. For him , Palestine belongs to the Arab in the same sense that England
belongs to the English or France to the French.”
He urged Jews to seek settlement in Palestine only by the goodwill of the Arabs, and by
attempting a change of Arab heart.
From Rao to Modi (1992 to 2014)
By the early 1990s, India’s quest for recognising Israel
was further catalysed by major changes in world
politics brought by the end of the Cold War and the
disintegration of the Soviet Union.The remarkable
rise of Israel as a leading defense technology and arms
supplier was another attraction that India couldn’t
overlook for long.
The opening of an Indian embassy in Tel Aviv in January 1992 marked an end to four decades
of giving Israel the cold shoulder, as India’s recognition of Israel in 1950 had been minus full
diplomatic ties.
These factors nudged the PV Narasimha Rao-led government to finally take the decision of
establishing full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1992. In many ways, there was an element
of inevitability to this decision and it had become a matter of time.
During the UPA’s 10 years in office, the balancing act
intensified, and Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian
Authority that administers the West Bank, visited in 2005, 2008,
2010 and 2012.
From Modi to present (After 2014)
Israel is Hindutva’s ideal of a “strong state” that deals “firmly” with “terrorists”. Even back in
the 1970s, the BJP’s forerunner Jana Sangh had made the case for ties with Israel. In 2000, L
K Advani became the first Indian minister to visit Israel, and in the same year Jaswant Singh
visited as Foreign Minister.
Modi took full ownership of the relationship with Israel. The first
indication of the new phase came with an abstention by India at
the UN Human Rights Council on a resolution welcoming a report
by the HRC High Commissioner. The abstention was conspicuous
because in 2014, India had voted for the resolution through
which the UNHRC inquiry was set up. In 2016, India abstained
again at on a UNHRC resolution against Israel.
In February 2018, Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel. His itinerary did
not include Ramallah. The word then was that India had “de-hyphenated” the Israel-
Palestine relationship, and would deal with each separately.
Dimensions of India-Israel relations
Political Relations
India announced its recognition of Israel on September 17, 1950. Soon thereafter, the Jewish
Agency established an immigration office in Bombay. This was later converted into a Trade
Office and subsequently a Consulate. Embassies were opened in 1992 when full diplomatic
relations were established.
Since the upgradation of relations in 1992, defense and agriculture formed the two main
pillars of the bilateral engagement. In recent years, relations have seen rapid growth across
a broad spectrum of areas - R&D innovation, water, agriculture and space. Agreements on
cyber security, oil & gas cooperation, film co-production and air transport have also been
signed .
Economic and Commercial Relations
From US$ 200 million in 1992 (comprising primarily trade in diamonds), bilateral
merchandise trade stood at US$ 5.65 billion (excluding defense) in 2018-19, with the balance
of trade being in India’s favour by US$ 1.8 billion.
Trade in diamonds constitutes close to 40% of bilateral trade. India is Israel's third largest
trade partner in Asia and seventh largest globally. In recent years, the bilateral trade has
diversified into several sectors such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, IT and telecom, and
homeland security. Major exports from India to Israel include precious stones and metals,
chemical products, textiles and textile articles, etc. Major imports by India from Israel
include precious stones and metals, chemicals and mineral products, base metals and
machinery and transport equipment.
Indian software companies, notably TCS, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Wipro, are beginning
to expand their presence in the Israeli market.
Investment
Indian investments in Israel (April 2000-June 2017) totaled USD 122.4 million . Indian
companies are marking their presence in Israel through mergers and acquisitions .
TCS started operations in Israel in 2005; State Bank of India opened a branch in Tel Aviv in
2007; Jain Irrigation fully acquired NaanDan, an Israeli irrigation equipment manufacturing
company, in 2012 and Sun Pharma has a 66.7% stake in Israel’s Taro Pharmaceutical
Industries.
Agriculture
Under a comprehensive Work Plan for cooperation in agriculture signed on 10 May 2006,
bilateral projects are implemented through MASHAV (Center for International Cooperation
of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and CINADCO (Centre for International Agricultural
Development Cooperation of Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development).
India has benefited from Israeli expertise and technologies in horticulture mechanization,
protected cultivation, nursery management, micro- irrigation and post-harvest
management.
Defense & Security
Israel is master in finer aspects of security. India is Israel's largest buyer of arms . The two
countries have elevated their ties to a strategic partnership; a pillar of this relationship is
defense.
India imports critical defense technologies from Israel. There are regular exchanges between
the armed forces. There is cooperation on security issues, including a Joint Working Group
on Counter-Terrorism. In February 2014, India and Israel signed three important agreements
on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Cooperation in Homeland Security, and
Protection of Classified Material. Since 2015, IPS officer trainees have been visiting the Israel
National Police Academy every year for a one-week long foreign exposure training at the
end of their training in the National Police Academy, Hyderabad.
What India Buys?
• Drones
• LRSAM,MRSAM
• Phalcom AEW
• Torpedoes
• Comp Integrated border Management Systems
• Sniffer dogs
Cooperation in S&T and Space
India-Israel cooperation in S&T is overseen by the Joint Committe on S&T, established under
the S&T Cooperation Agreement signed in 1993. During the visit of PM Modi in July 2017, an
MoU for establishing India-Israel Industrial R&D and Innovation Fund (I4F) was signed. In
July 2017, space agencies-ISRO & Israel Space Agency- signed three agreements on space
cooperation.
Culture and Education
In popular Israeli perception, India is an attractive, alternative tourist destination. Israeli
youth are particularly attracted to India. Air India started direct flights between New Delhi
and Tel Aviv in March 2018. Israeli carrier, El Al, operates direct flights between Mumbai and
Tel Aviv. Several courses related to India are taught at Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University
and Haifa University. Since 2012, Israel has been offering post-doctoral
scholarship to students from India in all fields. The Government of Israel also offers short
term summer scholarships for Indian students. India offers ICCR scholarships to Israelis every
year for various courses in Indian institutions.
Indian Diaspora
There are approximately 95,000 Jews of Indian-origin in Israel , who are all Israeli passport
holders. The main waves of immigration into Israel from India took place in the fifties and
sixties.There are about 14,000 Indian citizens in Israel, of whom around 13,200 are care-
givers employed by Israeli elders to take care of them. Others include diamond traders, some
IT professionals and students.
Israel Palestine Conflict
Brief history of the Conflict
Britain took control of the area known as Palestine after the ruler of that part of the Middle
East, the Ottoman Empire, was defeated in WW1. The land was inhabited by a Jewish
minority and Arab majority. Tensions between the two peoples grew when the international
community gave Britain the task of establishing a "national home" in Palestine for Jewish
people. But Palestinian Arabs opposed the move.
Between the 1920s and 40s, the number of Jews arriving there grew, with many fleeing from
persecution in Europe and seeking a homeland after the Holocaust of WWII. Violence
between Jews and Arabs grew.
In 1947, the UN voted for Palestine to be split into separate Jewish and Arab states, with
Jerusalem becoming an international city.That plan was accepted by Jewish leaders but
rejected by the Arab side and never implemented.
In 1948, unable to solve the problem, British rulers left and Jewish leaders declared the
creation of the state of Israel, a war followed. Troops from neighbouring Arab countries
invaded. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced out of their homes in
what they call Al Nakba, or the "Catastrophe". By the time the fighting ended in a ceasefire
the following year, Israel controlled most of the territory. Jordan occupied land which
became known as the West Bank, and Egypt occupied Gaza.
Jerusalem was divided between Israeli forces in the West, and Jordanian forces in the East.
Because there was never a peace agreement - each side blamed the other - there were more
wars and fighting in the decades which followed.
In another war in 1967, Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as most of
the Syrian Golan Heights, and Gaza and the Egyptian Sinai peninsula.
Most Palestinian refugees and their descendants live in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as
in neighbouring Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Neither they nor their descendants have been
allowed by Israel to return to their homes - Israel says this would overwhelm the country and
threaten its existence as a Jewish state.
Israel still occupies the West Bank, and although it pulled out of Gaza the UN still regards
that piece of land as part of occupied territory. Israel claims the whole of Jerusalem as its
capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian
state. The US is one of only a handful of countries to recognise Israel's claim to the whole of
the city.
In the past 50 years Israel has built settlements in these areas, where more than 600,000
Jews now live.
Gaza is ruled by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has fought Israel many times.
Israel and Egypt tightly control Gaza's borders to stop weapons getting to Hamas.
There are a number of issues which Israel and the Palestinians cannot agree on.These
include:
• What should happen to Palestinian refugees,
• whether Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank should stay or be
removed,
• whether the two sides should share Jerusalem
• whether a Palestinian state should be created alongside Israel.
President Obama's approach - In syrian crisis context, Obama entered in deal with Iran
leading to the tensions in US- Israel relation . Iran still does not recognise Israel's right to
exist . Obama's Policy strenghthened the status of Iran
Donald Trump’s new Middle East plan,2020"Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the
Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People" . Trump was clearly not a neutral negotiator
having shifted American Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv , recognised the contested
Golan Heights as part of Israel and closed a Palestinian Mission in Washington and aid to
Palestinian refugees has also been cut. Netanyahu praised it calling it “realistic path to a
durable peace” .Palestine rejected it as a “conspiracy deal” to which “we say a thousand
times over: no, no, no”. Trump called it "deal of the century" .
India's response to Trump’s plan: New Delhi urged Israel and Palestine to engage directly
and explore possibilities of finding an “acceptable” two-state solution for peaceful
coexistence.
2021 Israel Palestine Clashes
Why did this conflict start?
Things escalated since the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan in mid-April 2021,
with nightly clashes between police and Palestinians. The threatened eviction of some
Palestinian families in East Jerusalem has also caused rising anger.
Reason behind truce?
After 11 days airstrikes on and rocket attacks from Gaza, Israel and Hamas agreed to an
Egypt-mediated ceasefire.
Both sides are claiming victory and have warned that the ceasefire would hold based on the
ground circumstances.
The Israeli troops were wary of launching a ground invasion this time. In a ground attack,
Israel could inflict more damage on Hamas, but the risk of losing Israeli soldiers would also
be high.
The focus of Israel was on leaving maximum damage to Hamas’s militant infrastructure
through airstrikes. Israel carried out more than 1,800 airstrikes on Gaza. But Airstrikes leave
disproportionate civilian casualties , inviting international pressure. Even those countries
that initially supported Israel’s “right to defend itself” started calling for a ceasefire.
In the UNSC most countries backed an immediate ceasefire. The Biden administration, which
was facing intense pressure from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, asked for “a
significant de-escalation”.
Israel was also facing internal pressure as its streets were gripped by riots between Jewish
vigilantes and Arab mobs.
Protests were spreading in the West Bank and rockets were coming from the Lebanon
border. Amid intensifying pressure from many sides, the Israeli Security Cabinet unanimously
accepted a “unilateral and mutual” ceasefire with Hamas
Did Israel achieve its goals?
During the course of the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were
two ways to deal with Hamas — one, to conquer Hamas and the other to establish
deterrence. The Prime Minister said his aim was “forceful deterrence”, but conquering was
“an open possibility”. Israeli military leaders have claimed that they have killed 225 members
of Hamas and Islamic Jihad and has destroyed Hamas’s elaborate tunnel network and
military and intelligence infrastructure. The claims are however not verifiable.
Way Forward of the conflict
Future seems to be fragile. Any future peace deal will need both sides to agree to resolve
complex issues.
India’s response to the conflict
Statement by India in UN:
India expressed deep concern over violence in Jerusalem, especially on Haram Al Sharif/
Temple Mount during the holy month of Ramadan. The indiscriminate rocket firings from
Gaza targeting the civilian population in Israel and the retaliatory strikes into Gaza was
condemn for having caused immense sufferings of people.
India appealed for Immediate de-escalation and showing extreme restraint and refrain from
attempts to unilaterally change the existing status-quo.
India also asked for immediate resumption of dialogue between Israel and Palestinian and
reiterated India’s strong support to the just Palestinian cause and its unwavering
commitment to the two-State solution.
Conclusion on India Israel Relations
For the Indo-Israeli partnership to realise its full potential, it is imperative for both the
countries to behave as mature democracies and try to understand & appreciate the
compulsions of each other on a variety of regional & international
issues.
While Israel ties are on a strong footing, India cannot ignore the
Palestinians for historic, moral, legal and realist reasons. Therefore,
in India-Israel relations, as the Israel lobby in India claims, the sky is
not the limit. It should be principles. Only that makes a difference
in this all against all, Hobbesian world of international relations.
