Envoy Naor Gilon lauds India-Israel ties, calls PM Modi and Netanyahu’s visits “game changer”

Israel’s Ambassador to India, Naor Gilon, has said that relations between two nations are good on all fronts. He recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in 2017 and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to India in 2018, calling the visits “game changer” for ties between the two nations.

PM Modi travelled to Israel in July 2017 and it was the first time that an Indian PM visited Israel. Later in January 2018, Netanyahu arrived in India for a five-day visit. PM Modi received him at the airport and the two leaders warmly greeted each other.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, he called people-to-people ties the secret ingredient for relations between Israel and India. Gilon talked about Israelis visiting India after their military service ended.

When asked about strengthening ties between India and Israel, Gilon said, “There is something, there is a secret ingredient that I did not fully understand. There is something very special between the people. It is the people-to-people that is the secret. Somehow, as I said both in service in Israel, India became the comparative one, India became the first place in popularity among Israelis and Israelis for years have been coming here for full emergent visits after the military service for six seven eight months. So, you know for years.”

Naor Gilon spoke about Jews living in India for 2,500 years. Speaking about Jews living in India, Gilon said, “Jews lived here for 2,500 years. Now, I saw a stone that was found here, a graveyard stone of 800 years ago something like that. In India, Jews lived here. They were Indians, they are Indian Jains and Indian Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and Jews. It is part of being an Indian. It is part of that you have your religion, enjoy that as much as you want. So, in general, I think there is something very interesting. Famous Jews along the years like General Jacob and like the Sassoon family for example in Mumbai that is. Until to date some of their charities worked, schools, hospitals, libraries are still there and foundation is still there.”

Highlighting the ties between India and Israel, he said, “Jews here are part and parcel and then came here First World War and Indians were part of the Anglo-Indian army which liberated…from the Turks, what 30 years later became Israel. So, there is a lot in the past and then somehow there is something maybe because Israel was, not like Ambassador Carmona, I will not go into details, I would say assisting India from the 60s on the defence side, cooperating…that came here and 26/11.”

Notably, India and Israel are strategic partners and the bilateral ties between the two nations are warm and forward-looking, according to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). In 2022-23, the two countries jointly celebrated 30 years of the elevation of bilateral ties to full diplomatic relations.

He called PM Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar big supporters of Israel and noted that the two leaders know that people are supportive of their policies. Stressing that India is a growing power, he said that New Delhi is coveted by many nations today.

Naor Gilon said, “Each one has its own reason, why he likes Israel and India and but most like this is the interesting thing and this is also a nurturing environment for a politician who is also pro-Israel like Prime Minister Modi, Dr Jaishankar and all the group. I think they are big supporters of Israel and when they know that the public is also supporting their policy, it’s an easy shot and the relations between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Prime Minister Modi…”

“Prime Minister Modi was the first Prime Indian Minister to visit Israel in 2017 and a few months later 2018, Netanyahu visited here. So, I think that was a game changer for our relations. The relations are very, very good on all fronts and again, you know, your relations are good with many countries. India is a growing power, super power maybe, already definition that people here don’t like to make, to go into but India is a very important power, size of population, economy, everything geostrategically and India is coveted by many countries today,” he added.

Notably, PM Modi was one of the first world leaders to condemn Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7. However, India has also called for a complete ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. India has also put its weight behind the ‘two-state solution’ to the long-running Israel-Palestine conflict.