Shaky History: India's shift from Palestine to Israel

Commentary by Muskaan Mir | Edited by Ajitesh Vishwanath

Research & Publications Division

India’s relationship with Israel and Palestine has been a balancing act for the most part. Although India was the first non-Arab state to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1974, it has since benefited immensely from a longstanding strategic partnership with Israel.

While many reports claim that India provided Palestine with unwavering support since the 1940s, the depth of the matter cannot be captured by such a simple statement. India undoubtedly did more for Palestine than many other South Asian nations but was quite mild in its condemnation of Israel, even recognising the state’s creation in 1950 after rejecting the resolution that would admit Israel as a member of the UN in the previous year. Indeed, India took 42 more years to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, with previous governments remaining more or less quiet on this front owing to non-aligned and pro-Arab stances.

India has time and again established its commitment to strategic autonomy i.e., making decisions free of external pressure from allegiance to other global powers. When it comes to the nations of Israel and Palestine, however, India’s decisions have been taken to reflect moral and political standings more than most other bilateral deals. We must invariably turn to history to understand India’s position in this conflict at this moment in time.

Tracing the History of India’s Relations

In the light of decolonisation, Nehru viewed the idea of a homeland for settling Jews as unfavourable, in line with his domestic stance against communal politics. While Nehru refused to adopt a resolute stance on the question of Israel, in an exchange with Albert Einstein, he articulated pointed remarks against the scientist’s arguments. When Einstein suggested that a Jewish state would promote and represent international justice, Nehru firmly stood his ground by asking, “Why do [Jews] seek to compel the Arabs to submit against their will to certain demands? The approach taken has not led to a settlement but rather to the perpetuation of the conflict.” Gandhi shared Nehru’s views, all the way back in 1938 when he stated in an article published in the Harijan that while he commiserated with Jews owing to the “age-long persecution” they underwent, his sympathy could not make him turn a blind eye “to the requirements of justice.”

In November 1947, the UN General Assembly proposed to partition Palestine into two states— one Arab and one Jewish— under Resolution 181(II). The Palestinian Arab leadership vehemently opposed this Plan by stating that it violated their right to self-determination. Additionally, the proposed population exchange that would transfer one-third of Palestine to Jewish territory was seen as unjust and discriminatory as it included the majority of its best agricultural land. India notably voted against this plan along with the five members of the Arab League. Additionally, as the leading party of the Independence movement, the Nehru-led Congress was reluctant to recognise Israel. However, it is important to note that this decision may have been taken to placate Arab states. Even after recognising Israel in 1950, Nehru remained hesitant to establish diplomatic relations as this could result in Arab backing of Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir in the UN. Nehru believed that isolating Palestine could not only mean Pakistan potentially employing a pan-Islamic forum regarding Kashmir but also jeopardising India’s severe reliance on oil imports from friendly Arab nations. Keeping in this vein, during the Suez Crisis of 1956, India stood in solidarity with Egypt under hostility from Israel and other countries. 

Both Nehru and Gandhi were against the establishment of a Jewish nation-state in Palestine. Illustration: Kashik Sen | Licensed to IFPP

Moving deeper into its own independence, however, India and Israel began a friendlier relationship. During the Sino-Indian border war of 1962, Israel responded to India’s appeal for help by delivering weapons, leading to India making supplementary requests. Israel also supplied arms in 1965 to battle Pakistan. By 1971, India had discarded any remnants of the non-aligned movement by signing the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation. However, this threatened its relationship with the American camp of which Israel was a crucial member. Four years later, India also recognised the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) as a valid political representative of Palestine and also supported the UN’s decision to classify Zionism as a form of racism. Nevertheless, conflicts and shifts in the Middle East such as the Iranian Revolution and growing US-Egypt ties compelled India to look to new alignments in the face of the collapse of pan-Arab unity.

Diplomatic ties with Israel were officially established in 1992. Over the following decade, owing to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, India moved closer to the US, which meant backing American-led motions such as supporting the revocation of the 1975 UN resolution that declared Zionism as racism. The Kargil conflict of 1999 marked an especially pivotal moment in the India-Israel defence relationship. Israel provided crucial support to India in form of mortars and ammunition as its armed forces worked to repel Pakistani incursions into Indian territory. Subsequently, from 2000 to 2010, Israel reportedly transferred military equipment valued at approximately $10 billion to India.

Although the support extended by Israel was public knowledge, exchanges between Nehru and former Israeli PM David Ben Gurion did not come to light until 2017 when investigations by The Hindu revealed that the two countries engaged with one another at “the highest possible level, much before formal ties were established in January 1992.” This revelation underscores how even before diplomatic relations were publicly acknowledged, India and Israel shared a covert understanding and partnership, highlighting the depth of their connections. Today, India’s stance of lukewarm opposition to Israeli actions comes as no surprise.

The Current State of Affairs 

In July 2014, the External Affairs Minister of the time Sushma Swaraj explained why India supported the Palestinian cause while maintaining good relations with Israel. “While that might sound to some like fence-sitting,” she said, “It is a policy shared by all Indian governments over the past 20 years following the establishment of formal diplomatic relations in 1992.” India seems to have extended this approach a decade down the line.

When the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on 7th October 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first world leaders to condemn their actions and express solidarity with Israel. Meanwhile, India later joined fellow BRICS states in supporting a UNHRC report investigating the alleged human rights violations against Palestinians in Gaza. When the account ultimately found Israel guilty of such crimes, India abstained from voting on the report.

In May this year, India reiterated its support for the two-state solution. Addressing the UN General Assembly, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said, “The resulting humanitarian crisis is simply unacceptable.” She also emphasised India’s condemnation of the acts of terror against Israel and demanded the immediate release of all hostages. The latter statement is in line with what Modi established back in October last year, but India’s stance has now taken an explicitly diplomatic approach.

Under the Modi government, the India-Israel relationship has achieved significant milestones. In 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first Indian head of government to visit Israel in its history in the same year when India was the state’s largest arms customer. Images of him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strolling along a beach conveyed a sense of relaxed camaraderie between the two leaders.

Many Hindu nationalists have voiced sympathetic sentiments for Israel. An X post by the BJP dating 7th October— the day of the Hamas attack— states, “What Israel is currently confronting, India experienced from 2004 to 2014. Never forgive, never forget.” Ironically, many others have connected the right-wing leaders of India and Israel owing to accusations of their governments denying self-determination to minorities i.e., in Kashmir and in Gaza. In fact, in November 2019, S. Chakravorty, India’s Consul-General in New York called for an “Israel Model” in Kashmir which would include implementing harsher blockades and other measures in the region that have been undertaken in Occupied Territories in Palestine.

India has publicly supported Israel’s claims against Palestine long prior to October 2023. In 2019, at the UN Economic and Social Council, India supported the Israeli resolution to deny observer status to the Palestinian NGO Shahed. India has also benefited from Israeli initiatives beyond battlefields. It was uncovered in late 2019 that the country had bought the Israeli spyware Pegasus and used it against more than 100 Indian dissidents including lawyers and human rights activists. Israel thus has played a direct role in Indian governance to its advantage, resulting in criticism from some Indian demographic groups as well as the larger international community.

Why Indian-Israeli Ties are Here to Stay

Speaking to The Diplomat, the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center think tank of Washington, Michael Kugelman, remarks, “India views the current conflict through the lens of counterterrorism, and it views the Israeli assault on Gaza as a counterterrorism operation.” The Indian government’s domestic sentiments seem to be reflected in its foreign policy; its direct connections with Israel signify Indian tolerance if not support of its actions, while abstaining from voting in favour of a UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire allows India to avoid international scrutiny and practise Jaishankar’s policy of strategic autonomy, in a way.

Within the Indian territory, authorities have harshly cracked down on physical displays of Palestinian solidarity while right-wing accounts continue spreading disinformation on social media platforms like Instagram and X. The inhumanity of imperialism no longer impels Modi despite his support for the Palestinian cause as recently as six years back, when he visited Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and made donations to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees. Even in 2018, this gesture had commenced a week after Netanyahu’s visit to India that year. Yet, despite adopting a more ambiguous multilateral approach then, the support for Israel outweighs that for Palestine by a considerable margin.

With the dominant national sentiment shifting from anti-colonialism to Hindu nationalism, Indian support for Israel goes beyond gratitude for their assistance, instead being fuelled by Islamophobia. Even traditional media and press of the country echo anti-Palestine sentiments further suppressing any opposing perspectives to this issue. This shift reflects a broader ideological transformation within India, where strategic and political considerations increasingly align with nationalistic and religious biases, overshadowing previous commitments to humanitarian and anti-colonial principles. Ultimately, India may end up supporting any sociopolitical parallels they deem admirable— even if it means washing their hands of smaller nations they once championed.

References

Pieal, Jannatul Naym. “India Once Was a Strong Ally of Palestine. What Changed?” The Diplomat, 6 Nov. 2023, thediplomat.com/2023/11/india-once-was-a-strong-ally-of-palestine-what-changed/. Accessed 1 Aug. 2024.

‌Blarel, Nicolas. “How India Became Pro-Israel.” TIME, 17 Nov. 2023, time.com/6336217/india-modi-pro-israel/. Accessed 1 Aug. 2024.

Vats, Vaibhav. “India’s Hindu Extremists Are Trolling the Israel Conflict.” The Atlantic, 26 Oct. 2023, www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/10/india-hindu-extremist-disinformation-israel-hamas/675771/. Accessed 1 Aug. 2024.

Vanaik, Achin. “How India Has Moved with Israel: A Timetable of Milestone Events.” The Wire, 26 May 2021, thewire.in/diplomacy/india-israel-palestine-history-diplomatic-relations. Accessed 1 Aug. 2024.