It has been five days since Israel vowed retaliation for the attack by Hamas that killed close to 900 citizens. As Israel mulls on a ground offensive—and continues to shell the Gaza strip—950 Palestinians have been killed and 5,000 have been injured according to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza strip.
India was one of the first countries to express their solidarity with Israel. In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his shock over the news of terrorist attacks in Israel. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour,’’ he tweeted.
Unlike in the past, where India has appealed for restrain and peace, for Israel—a relationship that Modi has chosen to take out of the closet and flaunt—India has chosen to firmly back Israel as a victim of terrorism. This position is different from all the other countries of the Global South—who have either like Maldives, chosen to back Palestine or like Brazil to take the middle ground.
It is also at odds with India’s stand for Palestine. Especially at a time when India had taken great pains to de-hyphenate the relationship. So when he visited Palestine in 2018, Modi went through Jordan. It was to make a point. Modi’s response to the Hamas attack on Israel has found favour within unexpected quarters. The former National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, who has served as an ambassador to Israel, in a podcast with the Lowly Institute said: “Prime Minister responded immediately,.’ Most of the Global South spoke about the need for restraint, Menon noted, but he said this is a case where Israel has been attacked. “From my point of view, what PM Modi said, this is the right response,’’ he said.
However, with Israel having shut off water, food, and electricity to the Gaza Strip and the offensive still continuing, the mounting humanitarian problem will soon be difficult to ignore. And New Delhi’s warm relations with the wider Islamic world will feel the strain. Especially, as there the milder response by the UAE and Bahrain — both committed to relations with Israel following the Abraham Accords—have now chosen to take a stronger stand. Saudi Arabia, which may have been tempted by the US push towards flirting with Israel, has to cancel any attempts at a relationship as of now. “There was a new Middle East in the process of being born, things were moving in the Middle East, I think that is designed to change the direction....it will postpone much of this,’’ said Menon.
If the Ukraine war was a tightrope walk for India, the rising tensions would also be a test of skill. So far, the Ministry of External Affairs has not issued any statement. And Modi’s support for Israel is the only official response. “I thank Prime Minister @netanyahu for his phone call and providing an update on the ongoing situation. The people of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour. India strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," PM Modi posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. But with the death toll rising in Gaza, and calls for a ceasefire, India will have to find a way to balance both the Arab world and Israel. And fast.
