Israel Media Sees ‘India Coming Out Of The Closet’ On Bilateral Ties
Not just Netanyahu, Israeli media too rolls out the red carpet for Modi.
It’s not just the Israeli government, but the Israeli media as well which seems to have rolled out the red carpet for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit – the first ever by a sitting Indian PM. Live updates, videos and lengthy opinion pieces hailing the ‘historic visit’ featured on prominent Israeli news outlets.
The top story on the English and Hebrew newspaper Haaretz.com is dedicated to the Modi-Netanyahu meet with live updates. An opinion piece on the website, titled, ‘Why India's Narendra Modi Can Afford to Ignore the Palestinians’, says:
“Israel has long complained that India treats it like a mistress: glad to partake of its defense and technology charms, but a little embarrassed about the whole thing and unwilling to make the relationship too public. With Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel starting on Tuesday – the first ever by a sitting Indian prime minister – it will be like the two countries arriving hand in hand to opening night of the opera season, lit by a barrage of flashing cameras.”
The Times of Israel also features Modi’s visit prominently along with an interview by Israeli TV station Channel 2 in which the Indian prime minister recommends yoga as a solution to the conflict in the Middle East.
The Jerusalem Post features the ‘groundbreaking’ visit as a top story along with an opinion piece titled, ‘Welcome PM Modi’. The opinion pieces goes on to say:
“Many parallels can be drawn between BJP and our Likudled government. Both seek to strengthen what they see as a more authentic national identity – Hindutva in India, Judaism in Israel – while maintaining a robust democracy.”
Through this visit, India is ‘coming out of the closet’ on its relationship with Israel, Seth Frantzman, Senior Editor at The Jerusalem Post, told BloombergQuint, “Modi in some ways as a Hindu and a right wing Prime Minister has many commonalities with the more Jewish and more centre-right in Israel.”
Israeli journalists are also watching out for any statements Modi makes on the Israel- Palestine conflict, he added.
Historically, India has tended to support resolutions against Israel in the United Nations condemning the settlements and things like that. So it will be interesting to see if he talks at all, about playing a role related to the conflict or if the discussions is primarily about other issues, defense, or just primarily about Israeli issues.Seth Frantzman, Senior Editor,The Jerusalem Post