Modi in Israel

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel – the first ever by an Indian state in the 25 years since diplomatic relations between the two countries were removed – was a meeting of similar minds. Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have a lot in common. Both are religious fundamentalists whose zealotry has led them to demonise and massacre Muslims. It is no surprise that Modi is one of the only Indian leaders to have visited Israel before, going there in 2006 when he was chief minister of Gujarat and had already led a pogrom against Muslims. Even though India has now had ties with Israel for a quarter of a century, it has traditionally been a supporter of Palestinian statehood. But Modi seems to be casting that aside as he is breaking with the norm for international leaders who visit Israel to maintain a balance of ties by meeting with Palestinian Authority leaders in Ramallah. Modi has completely shunned the Palestinians – an obvious sign that they can no longer rely on Indian support at the UN and other international forums. India’s shift towards Israel has been gradually accelerating ever since it began to move away from Russia as its largest supplier of weaponry. Even before this trip, India was the largest recipient of Israeli arms, a sign also of India’s burgeoning relationship with the US. During Modi’s visit, he signed defence deals worth $1 billion with Netanyahu – something which should also have Pakistan worried.

India’s aims in securing greater military ties with Israel are two-fold. One is to keep up militarily with China and also develop more allies as it seeks regional and global superpower status. The other – more insidious – aim is to put India at the forefront of an anti-terrorism bloc. India’s cynical hope is that by tarring all Muslims as terrorists it will be able to delegitimise the liberation movement in Kashmir. Netanyahu, and indeed every other Israeli government, has done the same with the Palestinian struggle for freedom. That both leaders are religious chauvinists only makes their alliance more dangerous. One of India’s main goals internationally is to have Pakistan isolated; that is one Israel will likely share. The two leaders talked about terrorism more than any other issue in their press conferences and the defence deals they signed will upset the balance of power in South Asia, as India takes possession of new missiles. Modi has aligned himself with every anti-Muslim zealot around and his alliance of demagogues is a threat to every genuine movement for liberation in the world.