NSA Doval visits Israel to discuss Gaza, Haaretz op-ed says Modi ‘losing patience’ with Netanyahu
The Israel Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement on the social media platform ‘X’ and posted a picture of Doval’s meeting with the Israeli leader. Israel’s ambassador to India, Naor Galon, told ThePrint: Israel was happy with the visit of NSA Doval. It was the first such opportunity since the Hamas murderous terror attack of 7 October for the two close allies to consult and discuss their mutual interests.
In an op-ed for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz Thursday, an expert currently based in Tel Aviv, Khinvraj Jangid, said Doval’s sudden trip to Israel signals the Modi government’s concerns with Israel’s military actions in Gaza, where over 30,000 people have been killed and basic commodities like food and water run scarce.
Doval’s sudden trip to Israel indicates Modi government’s concerns as it watches with dismay Israel’s ongoing assault on Hamas in Gaza which is taking a horrific toll on its civilians, who comprise the majority of the 30,000 killed in the war and who are sinking ever deeper into a humanitarian disaster of hunger and homelessness, wrote Jangid, an associate professor and director of Center for Israel Studies at the OP Jindal Global University in Delhi.
In a statement on X Monday, Netanyahu’s office shared a picture of Doval and Netanyahu cheerfully shaking hands, adding that the Israeli leader updated him on recent developments in the fighting in the Gaza Strip. The sides also discussed the effort to release the hostages and the issue of humanitarian assistance, it added.
Doval’s trip was intended to carry forward India’s efforts to promote peace and stability in the region, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said later in the week.
As you are aware, the prime minister himself is invested and is keen to promote peace and stability in the region. He has been in touch with several Arab leaders in this connection. NSA’s visit to Israel, which took place at the onset of the holy month of Ramadan, carries forward these efforts, said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal at a weekly briefing Friday.
Apart from the Israeli prime minister, Doval met with other senior leaders in the government and discussed developments in Gaza, said the MEA.
He [Doval] emphasised the delivery of humanitarian aid and assistance, and discussed steps being taken or undertaken for the release of hostages, Jaiswal told reporters.
According to Bashir Ali Abbas, research associate at the Council For Strategic and Defense Research (CSDR), the MEA adopted very safe language in its remarks.
India sees that global (especially Western) opinion is gradually consolidating against Netanyahu — the individual — rather than Israel at large. I see this as a quieter version of Modi’s statement to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin that this ‘not an era of war’, but while ensuring that the India-Israel bilateral relations are not troubled, Abbas told ThePrint.
In September 2022, months after the war in Ukraine broke out, Modi met Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Uzbekistan where he said — Today is not an era of war. This statement was warmly welcomed by Western countries including the US and Germany.
Also Read: Israel war on Gaza has gone beyond ‘right to self-defence’ to ‘responsibility to protect’
In his op-ed for Haaretz, Jangid argued that Doval is Modi’s messenger and his visit to Jerusalem should be seen as a warning call.
Doval is Modi’s messenger, which is why Netanyahu briefed him himself…[His] visit to Jerusalem should be seen as a warning call that India, despite the dramatically warmed ties in recent years between India and Israel, is not afraid to speak its concerns out loud, he wrote.
Jingad further said that India was well aware of the growing friction between Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden.
Earlier this month, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz, who some are viewing as Netanyahu’s rival, went to the US and met senior officials of the Biden administration. He got everything short of a state visit, said CSDR’s Abbas.
In the same vein, a Financial Times report remarked that the White House treated a visiting foreign cabinet minister as though he were head of government, and that Washington is praying Gantz replaces Netanyahu.
Jingad further wrote that India has been alarmed by the death of an Indian worker amid the Israel-Hamas war at a time when the Government of India has agreed to send a large number of Indian workers to Israel to work in construction to fill jobs once occupied by Palestinians.
On 7 March, Patnibin Maxwell, who was from Kerala, was killed by an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon.
Apart from Indian workers in Israel, New Delhi also has other economic stakes in the region, especially the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, which seeks to reshape the trade route between the Gulf, Europe and South Asia, connecting them by rail and sea links.
The Modi government has been trying to take a balanced approach to the situation but has been outspoken in calling for a two-state solution, wrote Jingad.
The tone it is beginning to take suggests India is losing patience with how Israel is conducting the war and the disaster it is wreaking on the people of Gaza, he added, citing External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s repetition of India’s stand for the two-state solution.
