Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 26: The Congress on Thursday strongly criticised the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the Israeli Parliament, which it said “diminished India’s moral standing” showing an “unabashed defence of his host,” the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Besides recalling the first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s stand on the birth of Israel as a state in 1947, apparently contradicting Mr Modi’s claim that India recognised the new state of Israel “on the day it was born,” the Congress also referred to the criticism by an Israeli lawyer who too felt Mr Modi “humiliated himself and India” by behaving like a leader of a “minor state.”
Addressing the Israeli Parliament Knesset on Wednesday, Mr Modi described the Gaza Peace Initiative as a path towards “just and durable peace” in the region. He also delivered a message of solidarity with Israel, asserting that “terrorism anywhere threatens peace everywhere.”
“I also carry with me the deepest condolences of the people of India for every life lost and for every family whose world was shattered in the barbaric terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7 (2023)… India stands with Israel, firmly, with full conviction, in this moment, and beyond. No cause can justify the murder of civilians. Nothing can justify terrorism,” Mr Modi said.
Congress general secretary, in-charge, communications, Jairam Ramesh referred to an article written by Eitay Mack, an Israeli lawyer and human rights activist, in which he said the Indian prime minister “acted and spoke like the leader of a minor state visiting a global power, desperate to curry favour.” He added that Modi “humiliated” himself and India. Referring to the article, the Congress MP said that the lawyer had “exposed the sham of the prime minister’s…address to the Knesset yesterday that diminished India’s moral standing.”
Denouncing the speech, Mr Ramesh also dwelt at length on Nehru’s words on the birth of Israel. “In his address to the Knesset yesterday which was an unabashed defence of his host Prime Minister Modi drew attention to the fact that India recognised the new state of Israel on the day he was born,” he said in a post on X.
Mr Ramesh then cited Einstein’s letter to Jawaharlal Nehru on June 13, 1947, on the subject of the creation of Israel. Mr Ramesh posted that in his reply to Einstein on July 11, 1947, Nehru wrote, “I confess that while I have a very great deal of sympathy for the Jews, I feel sympathy for the Arabs also in their predicament. In any event, the whole issue has become one of high emotion and deep passion on both sides.” India’s first Prime Minister said, “Unless men are big enough on either side, which is just and generally agreeable to the parties concerned, I see no effective solution for the present.
“I have paid a good deal of attention to this problem of Palestine and have read books and pamphlets on the subject issued on either side; yet I cannot say that I know all about it, or that I am competent to pass a final opinion as to what should be done. I know that the Jews have done a wonderful piece of work in Palestine and have raised the standards of the people there, but one question troubles me. After all these remarkable achievements, why have they failed to gain the goodwill of the Arabs? Why do they want to compel the Arabs to submit against their will to certain demands, Nehru asked.
“The way of approach has been one which does not lead to a settlement, but rather to the continuation of the conflict. I have no doubt that the fault is not confined to one party but that all have erred,” he went on to say. The chief difficulty has been the continuation of British rule in Palestine, Nehru said.
On November 5, 1949, the two had met at Einstein’s home in Princeton. In November 1952, Einstein was offered the Presidency of Israel which he declined,” Mr Ramesh recalled. “And a short while before he passed away in April 1955, Einstein and Nehru had exchanged letters on the issue of nuclear explosions and weapons,” he pointed out.
In his second visit to Israel after nine years, Prime Minister Modi reminded the members of the Knesset about India’s own struggle against terrorism and the Mumbai terror attack comparing it with the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023, and said, “Like you, we have a consistent and uncompromising policy of zero tolerance for terrorism, with no double standards,” he said.
Mr Modi said India had supported Israel’s attempts to build friendly ties with the countries in West Asia and North Africa and said Israeli moves to build relationships with Arab countries under the Abraham Accords, showed “courage and vision.” “Since then, the situation has changed significantly. The path is even more challenging. Yet it is important to sustain that hope,” he said.
Mr Modi, who was conferred with the ‘Speaker of the Knesset Medal’, referred to India’s ties with the Jewish community as rooted in ancient trade and movement of people, and said there was “great admiration of Israel’s resolve, courage and achievements” in India. He also talked about the absence of discrimination against the Jewish community in India and specifically referred to the historic Jewish communities in Kerala, Kolkata and Mumbai.
The Prime Minister said India was committed to expanding trade with Israel and informed that both sides were working on it through “cross-border financial linkages” using “Digital Public Infrastructure.” He said the two sides were also working on an ambitious Free Trade Agreement and said this will “unlock the vast untapped potential in our trade relationship”.
Earlier, welcoming the Prime Minister of India to the Knesset, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Mr Modi “did not flinch” and that under his leadership, India provided support to Israel in the challenging times over the recent past. “You stood for Israel. You stood for the Jews. Thank you,” said Mr Netanyahu.
The recent Israel – Hamas conflict has almost proved Nehru’s apprehensions about lasting peace in the region right. Israel has been carrying out unprecedented air and ground strikes on besieged Gaza since October 2023, leaving more than 70,000 people dead. In September, a commission of inquiry set up by the United Nations said Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel’s foreign ministry had rejected the report, describing it as “distorted and false.”
Modi told the Israeli Parliament that the Gaza Peace Initiative, endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, offers a pathway for regional stability. He reiterated New Delhi’s “firm support” for the peace plan led by United States President Donald Trump.
The US had invited India among about 60 countries, to join Trump’s Board of Peace on Gaza. Washington has described the board as a global initiative to resolve conflicts, initially focusing on Gaza. While New Delhi has not joined the initiative, it attended the inaugural meeting of the board on February 19 as an observer country. The Board of Peace for Gaza will be part of the second phase of a US-backed ceasefire proposal between Israel and Hamas. A UN Security Council resolution in November authorised the Board of Peace to oversee Gaza at least until the end of 2027.
India’s longstanding position has been to support a two-state solution for establishing a sovereign, viable and independent state of Palestine within recognised and mutually agreed borders, living alongside Israel in peace.
