Key actions for Indian firms and policymakers

  • Prioritize co-development of arms – Align R&D pipelines with Israeli specifications, secure export-control compliance, and negotiate offset agreements that guarantee technology transfer.
  • Assess EU sanctions risk – Conduct sanctions-impact analyses for entities linked to Bezalel Smotrich or Itamar Ben-Gvir, implement third-party due-diligence, and create contingency plans to avoid secondary sanctions.

Table of Contents

Gaza Conflict as Catalyst for Renewed India-Israel Engagement

The Gaza war accelerated India’s pivot toward Israel by reshaping diplomatic, economic, and security ties under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

  • European backlash – The United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Norway barred Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, from entry.

Consequently, the conflict highlighted strategic convergence and opened new avenues for collaboration.

High-Profile Visits and Trade Agreements

  • Trade pact – The agreement emphasizes technology transfer, joint-venture frameworks, and preferential market access for defense and cybersecurity firms.

Therefore, Indian stakeholders must act swiftly to capitalize on the momentum.

Expansion of Defence and Arms Cooperation

India now ranks as Israel’s largest weapons buyer.

  • Co-development focus – Align Indian defense R&D with Israeli standards to streamline procurement and reduce lead times.

Additionally, compliance with export-control regimes remains essential to avoid legal repercussions.

Ideological Alignment Between Hindutva and Zionism

Both movements emphasize national sovereignty, self-reliance, and a strong security posture.

  • Policy synergy – This ideological overlap facilitates smoother legislative approvals for joint projects.
  • Public narrative – Framing cooperation as a shared fight against terrorism garners broad political support.

Consequently, the alignment reinforces bilateral trust and expedites decision-making.

People-to-People Ties and Security Perceptions

  • Diaspora networks – Indian and Israeli communities exchange expertise in technology, agriculture, and medicine.

Therefore, nurturing these connections strengthens the overall strategic partnership.

India’s Diplomatic Position and Reluctance to Criticise Israel

India balances its strategic interests with global expectations.

  • Non-alignment stance – By avoiding public criticism of Israel, India preserves defense procurement channels and intelligence sharing.
  • EU sanctions risk – Ongoing EU deliberations on sanctions against Smotrich and Ben-Gvir require careful monitoring to prevent secondary penalties.

Hence, diplomatic prudence remains a cornerstone of India’s approach.

Historical Evolution of India-Israel Relations

Each phase built the foundation for today’s accelerated partnership.

Modi’s Calculus Within the Wider International Landscape

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  • Economic diversification – Access to Israeli innovation diversifies India’s technology supply chain.

Consequently, the shift aligns with India’s long-term vision of strategic autonomy and global relevance.

As Israel was conducting its genocidal war on Gaza, bombing and killing dozens on the very days he was visiting India, New Delhi was ready to expand business with Israel like never before. For decades, India had been one of the world’s staunchest supporters of Palestine, and Europe one of Israel’s closest backers. India’s position has shifted firmly since 2014, when Modi and his Hindu majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party came to power. But analysts say the optics of Smotrich’s visit underlined something even more dramatic: At a time when even Europe, traditionally seen as backing Israel, has veered away from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, the genocidal war on Gaza appears to have escalated India’s embrace of Israel.

In February this year, Modi visited Israel as Netanyahu – who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over war crimes carried out in Gaza – faced growing isolation in the international arena. “You are a great friend of Israel. You are more than a friend. You are a brother,” Netanyahu told Modi when both leaders addressed the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem.

Expansion of Defence and Arms Cooperation

Historically, India has argued that diplomacy and dialogue are the way forward to resolve conflicts – whether between Russia and Ukraine, the US and Iran, or Israel and Palestine. New Delhi has maintained that war doesn’t solve anything.

Arms Exports Amid Ongoing Hostilities

But investigations by Al Jazeera and other reporting have revealed that New Delhi exported weapons to Israel during the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza. Meanwhile, under Modi, India has become Israel’s largest weapons buyer.

Just hours after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, India’s Modi unequivocally condemned the “terrorist attack”, adding that he was “deeply shocked”.

“Like you, we have a consistent and uncompromising policy of zero tolerance for terrorism with no double standards,” Modi said.

Ideological Alignment Between Hindutva and Zionism

Analysts believe that the framing of Israel as a country under attack has helped Modi justify pushing India closer to it.

Domestic Political Narrative Supporting Israel

For decades, much of the politics of Modi’s BJP “has hovered around Islamist expansionism or Islamic terrorism”, said Rasheed Kidwai, a political analyst in New Delhi. “So it helps [in relationship with Israel],” Kidwai said, pointing to the link between Modi’s Israel policy and his domestic politics.

Modi’s BJP has roots in a philosophy, Hindutva, which ultimately seeks to transform India into a Hindu nation and a natural homeland for Hindus anywhere in the world – similar to Israel’s view of itself as a Jewish homeland. Since the October 7 attacks on Israel, Kidwai noted, “the anti-Muslim sentiments fill in that block in India.” This feeling is, of course, coupled with “pragmatism in New Delhi because Israel is a potent international player”.

People-to-People Ties and Security Perceptions

Navdeep Suri, a former Indian diplomat who served as ambassador to Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, told Al Jazeera that people-to-people ties are also a central pillar of the India-Israel relationship, “particularly within a section of Indian society that has strong admiration for the muscular policy that Israel adopts”.

From Covert to Open Bilateral Relations

Suri noted that a shift towards Israel predates the ongoing genocidal war in Gaza. “Under PM Modi, a relationship that was largely covert or under the carpet has become a much more open relationship,” the former Indian diplomat said. “There has been a recognition in Delhi that Israel has been a very strong defence and intelligence partner,” he told Al Jazeera, referring to another pillar of the bilateral relationship. “There’s a genuine convergence when it comes to the perceptions on security.”

India’s Diplomatic Position and Reluctance to Criticise Israel

India ‘should take principled positions’Even several of Israel’s closest European allies have moved from criticism of the genocidal war on Gaza and expansive illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank to concrete measures. At least 11 European countries and Canada have imposed trade measures against products from illegal Israeli settlements. Many have imposed sanctions on settlers and networks accused of conducting pogroms against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, as well as on ministers like Smotrich and Ben-Gvir.

Official Statements and Policy Stance

India, for its part, has avoided anything more than homilies and mild opposition to war and West Bank attacks. Diplomatically, New Delhi still backs a two-state solution and has called for aid access and peace in the region. Suri, the former Indian diplomat who served in the Middle East, said New Delhi “should be able to take more principled positions on these things”. However, from his experience in office, Suri added, “there is such a close alignment at the political levels between the governments in Israel and India that there is a reluctance [in India] to criticise Israel. That reluctance manifests in various aspects,” Suri explained to Al Jazeera.

Historical Evolution of India-Israel Relations

In 1948, India opposed the creation of Israel. A relationship with Israel was once frowned upon in New Delhi – a legacy of India’s anti-colonial past – though the two had clandestine ties since at least the 1970s. India backed the 1975 United Nations General Assembly resolution calling Zionism a form of racism, was the first non-Arab nation to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organization, and was among the first in the world to recognise Palestinian statehood. It only established diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992, and though governments since then slowly built up relations, Modi, in 2016, was the first Indian PM to visit that country.

Modi’s Calculus Within the Wider International Landscape

Netanyahu’s disruptive and fatal assault on Gaza has drawn ire from even the White House in Washington, where Israel enjoys bipartisan support. United States President Donald Trump has previously threatened to cut off support for Israel’s bombing of Lebanon – even while signing off on huge weapons sales to Israel.

Comparison with Western Responses

However, nothing has moved Modi’s bonhomie with Israel’s Netanyahu. In fact, Modi’s February visit on the eve of the joint US-Israel attacks on Iran appeared “as almost a personal favour to Netanyahu by boosting his image as an international statesman just as Israeli election campaigning is getting under way”, Max Rodenbeck, Israel/Palestine programme director at the Washington-based International Crisis Group, had told Al Jazeera. Such an act would have been unthinkable from an Indian leader in previous decades.

Consequently, the war has sped India’s shift toward Israel, intertwining strategic, ideological, and domestic considerations in a manner that distinguishes New Delhi’s approach from that of many Western capitals.