First PM in Israel

NARENDRA Modi will break a long-held taboo for countries with substantial Muslim populations when he becomes the first Indian Prime Minister ever to land in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. Countries with liberal credentials too have hesitated from breaking bread with Israel because of its continuing human rights abuses of Palestinians, apartheid towards Arab Israelis and in the process, breaking several international covenants. India fell in both categories. Over the years India balanced its moral grandstanding for the Palestinian cause and the need for smart weapons from Israel by carefully calibrating ministerial visits. Care was taken to visit both Tel Aviv and Ramallah, the capital of the Palestinian Authority. Modi has decided to dispense with this formal genuflection. 

This is a huge gesture for the Israeli Government committed to a hardline policy against the Palestinians despite worldwide criticism. Unlike Washington or Moscow, Tel Aviv is making much of Modi’s arrival, without Ramallah as an adjunct itinerary. The underlying reason for Modi’s gesture is understandable. Disinterested in politically accommodating the Muslims in India, Israel’s inhuman treatment of half its civilians personally does not affect him. But international politics is such that Modi did meet Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in May.  In return for overturning seven decades of Indian foreign policy, Modi should return with game-changing goodies from the busy scientists of Israel.

But that is unlikely. If one were to dissect the components of India-Israel relationship, agriculture and water have so far failed to enthuse Indian farmers. India has extracted most of what Israel had to give in defence equipment.  It would try to gain from Israel’s oblique counter-terrorism methodologies. But Israel’s militaristic approach to all security issues hasn’t brought lasting peace. Despite all its acclaimed commandos and technologies, even Israel has been unable to fully tame the malcontents and had to strike an uneasy peace with Hezbollah and Hamas. By going to Tel Aviv, PM Modi is bringing into the open what was being conducted behind closed doors. However, the relationship remains purely transactional — a huge Indian market for the Israel defence and counter-terrorism sector.