Israel backs India’s call for bringing 26/11 masterminds to justice

Echoing the sentiments of a “vast majority” of Indians, Israeli Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana on Tuesday called for bringing to justice the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

Ohana is on an official visit to India – the first-ever to the country by a sitting Knesset (Israeli Parliament) Speaker. After visiting Delhi, he paid tribute to victims of the 26/11 terror attack at the Nariman House in Mumbai on Tuesday.

“Everyone who took part in this terrible terror attack should be brought to justice. This is a major part of counter-terrorism. So, first we need to prevent, but once we didn’t succeed to prevent, everyone needs to be brought to justice. And this is our expectation, and I think it is the vast majority of the Indian people’s expectation,” Ohana was quoted as saying by ANI.

“Visiting this place, there are two issues that are very, very close to my heart. One is Chabad, which symbolizes the love of mankind and the bridges between us. And the second is Counter-terrorism, which I spent over twelve years of my life, both in the IDF and the Shin Bet Israeli Security Agency. Terror, as we all know, does not differentiate between religions, between race,” he added.

In January 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also visited the Chabad home where 2008 Mumbai terror attack survivor Moshe Holzberg, known as ‘Baby Moshe’ in India, lost his parents.

On Tuesday, Ohana recalled Netanyahu’s visit as he toured Moishi’s childhood room and the place where the terrorist incident took place. Moishi’s mother had marked her son’s height on the wall in the room when he was a baby.

“And we just visited Moshe’s room, who was two years old when this event took place. And we saw the wall that represents his height when he was eleven months old, and then later on, when he was, what, 11 years of age, and someone wrote there three words that someone was and still is the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. And those three words are Hum Israel Hai – the people of Israel live,” said the Israeli Speaker.

In a heartwarming gesture, 16-year-old Moshe Holzberg attended the swearing-in ceremony of the new Israeli parliament last year, reciting Psalms from the book with which his parents prayed.

The parliamentary delegation headed by Ohana also visited the National Stock Exchange of India and meet with its chairman, Girish Chandra Chaturvedi.

Earlier in Delhi, Ohana visited the Parliament to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and signed an MoU on the first cooperation and exchange of information agreement between the parliaments of Israel and India.

“I chose India as the destination for my first official visit as Speaker of the Knesset because I see the impressive development of this superpower in every aspect, and also because no sitting Knesset Speaker has ever visited India. This is an important milestone in the diplomatic relations between Israel and India, which were established some 31 years ago,” he said.

The delegation also met President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar.

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