India-Israel Relations | UPSC Notes

India-Israel Relations | UPSC Notes

• Israel is a country in the Middle East. It is on the southeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern coast of the Red Sea. It shares land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the west, and Egypt to the southwest.

• Tel Aviv is the centre of Israel’s economy and technology, while Jerusalem is where the country’s government is based and where it says its capital is. However, Israel’s claim to East Jerusalem is not recognised globally.

• India and Israel are both republics that became independent in 1947 and 1948, respectively. During the cold war, their relationships were rocky because Israel was in the US block, but now that the war is over, they are on track to become “natural allies.”

• Israel’s past is very different, and when it moved into the Muslim world, it changed the way politics worked after the Second World War. In this situation, the way Israel is tied to Palestine has been one of the most important factors in how it gets along with other countries.

• India’s policy towards Israel has always been closely tied to its support for the Palestinian cause and to how India’s relationship with Israel affects its relationship with the Arab world. India was the first non-Arab country to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) as the “sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.” It later gave the PLO office in New Delhi full diplomatic recognition. In line with this way of thinking, India backed the Arab countries in opposing the division of Palestine. It wasn’t until 1950, two years after Israel was created, that India legally recognised the State of Israel. Soon after that, Israel set up an immigration office in Bombay, which later became a trade office and then a consulate. But full diplomatic ties and the opening of embassies didn’t happen until 1992, after the cold war ended.

• India didn’t feel comfortable sending diplomatic missions to Israel until 1992, after the Middle East Peace Process had begun in 1991 at Madrid between Israel and the Arab States and the fall of the Soviet Union had shifted the geopolitical balance decisively in favour of the US. Since then, however, ties in all areas, especially the military, have grown quickly. Israel has become, second only to Russia, an important and reliable source of military supplies and high-tech, sensitive defence technologies.

• India was very thankful that Israel was willing to send military equipment and ammunition during the Kargil operations in 1999 and Operation Parakram in 2002. Operation Parakram was the first full-scale mobilisation since the 1971 Indo-Pak war and was started after a terrorist attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001.

Areas of Cooperation

Political

• In recent years, there have been a lot of talks between ministers. In 2003 and 1997, the Prime Minister and the President of Israel went to India.

• In October 2015, the President of India went to Israel, and in July 2017, the Prime Minister of India went there.

• In January 2018, the Prime Minister of Israel went to India. This marked the 25th anniversary of India and Israel’s friendship and their growing partnership. Several MoUs and agreements were made about things like cyber security, energy cooperation, the Air Transport Agreement, film co-production, homoeopathy, investment chances in space, and solar technology.

• As of December 2020, 164 UN member states, including India, had diplomatic links with Israel.

Economic and Commercial

• Trade between the two countries went from US$ 200 million in 1992 (mostly diamonds) to US$ 5.19 billion in 2011. In 2016-17, India had a positive trade balance of $1.1 billion. Even though almost half of all trade between the two countries is in diamonds, in recent years trade has grown into other areas, such as medicines, agriculture, IT and telecom, and homeland security. In 2012, trade in services between the two countries was worth about US$407 million.

• India is Israel’s third-largest trading partner in Asia and seventh-largest worldwide.

Israeli companies have put money into India’s energy, renewable energy, telecommunications, real estate, and water technologies, and they are now focused on setting up research and development centres or production units there.

• Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks are also going on between India and Israel.

• In recent years, Israel has made a strategic choice to strengthen its economic ties with China, Japan, and India.

Investment

• Even though there has been a lot of excitement lately about how trade and investment between Israel and India is rising, the real market potential has yet to be reached. Between April 2000 and March 2017, Israel sent a total of US$ 122 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) to India.

• Israeli companies have invested in India’s energy, green energy, telecom, real estate, and water technologies, and they are also setting up R&D centres or production units there.

Agriculture

• The 2015–2018 Bilateral Action Plan is currently in place.

• It wants to expand teamwork into new areas like water and dairy. The earlier plan for 2012–2015 made it possible for more states, like Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, etc., to work together on agriculture.

• India has gained from Israeli knowledge and technology in horticulture mechanisation, protected cultivation, orchard and canopy management, nursery management, micro-irrigation, and post-harvest management. Products and methods from Israel that are used for drip irrigation are now widely used in India.

• India-Israel development cooperation: a three-year work plan in agriculture (2021-2023) to set up Centres of Excellence, strengthen value chains, and encourage private investment.

Security and Defence

• One of the strongest parts of the friendship between the two countries. Nearly 41% of Israel’s defence exports go to India. Israel has been a source of advanced military equipment for India. India gets more than $1 billion worth of equipment every year, and between 2012 and 2016, India bought more than 40% of Israel’s arms exports.

• It looks like Israel is ready to give India important defence technologies that no other country has. This would make India’s defences less vulnerable to pressure from other countries. Israel is also helping India update its old weapons systems that were made in Russia. The armed forces and defence workers talk to each other often.

• A Joint Working Group on Counter-terrorists is one way that countries work together to fight terrorists.

• In February 2014, India and Israel signed three important agreements: Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Cooperation in Homeland and Public Security, and Protection of Classified Material.

• A group from the Indian Air Force (IAF) took part in the international air drill “Blue Flag 2017,” which ran from November 2-16, 2017, in southern Israel. This was the first time that a group from the Israeli Air Force (IsAF) worked together with a group from the Israeli Air Force (IAF).

Defence Equipment

• Israel has sold Barak I missiles, 3 phalcon AWACS, and Israeli Spike anti-tank missiles to India. Medium-range surface-to-air missile (MR-SAM) weapons called the Barak-8 missile are also being made for the Indian Navy and IAF.

• There are several big deals in the works, including the installation of two more Israeli Phalcon AWACS (airborne warning and control systems) on Russian IL-76 military aircraft, as well as the sale of Heron, Searcher-II, and Harop drones, Barak anti-missile defence systems, and Spyder quick-reaction anti-aircraft missile systems.

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• In October 2018, India and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) signed a US$777 million deal for the supply of Barak 8 long-range surface-to-air defence missiles and missile defence systems for the Indian Navy.

• At the 15th meeting of the Joint Working Group on Bilateral Defence Cooperation (JWG 2021), countries decided to set up a Task Force to make a Ten-Year Roadmap that will show where they can work together in new ways.

Cyber Security

• Both the government of India and the business sector of Israel are committed to making cyberspace safer and more stable. Both sides also agree that a Framework for cooperation in the area of cyber security is a good way to improve and formalise their broad cooperation on cyber problems.

Terrorism

• Both India and Israel agree that terrorism is a serious threat to world peace and security, and they are both very determined to fight it in all its forms. India and Israel both say that strong actions should be taken against terrorists, terror groups, their networks, and anyone who gives terrorists and terror groups a place to stay.

• Statements from India and Israel show how important it is to keep terrorist groups from getting WMD or other technologies. Israel wants the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) to be signed as soon as possible.

Science and Technology

• India and Israel have worked together in science and technology in two ways. Under the S&T Cooperation Agreement, which was signed in 1993, S&T schools work together on projects.

• Second, under an MOU on Industrial Research and Development Initiative signed in 2005, a joint industrial R&D fund called i4RD (India-Israel Initiative for Industrial R&D) was set up to support bilateral industrial R&D and specific projects. Under i4RD, money is given to joint business projects.

• In January 2014, India and Israel talked for a long time about making an India-Israel Cooperation agreement.

The goal of this fund is to encourage new ideas by getting scientists and engineers to work together.

Cooperation in space

• In 2002, India and Israel signed a deal to work together on space projects. Israel’s TecSAR and RISAT-2 radar image satellites were successfully launched from India’s PSLV of ISRO.

• Space is one place where the two countries have started to work together. During the Prime Minister of India’s trip to Israel in July 2017, MoUs on Plan of Cooperation were signed between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Israel Space Agency (ISA) about working together on Atomic Clocks, GEO-LEO Optical Link, and Electric Propulsion for Small Satellites.

Culture and Diaspora

• People in Israel know that India is an old country with strong cultural customs. Every year, between 30,000 and 35,000 Israelis go to India for tourism and other reasons.

• Every year, more than 40,000 people from India go to Israel. Most of them are travellers who go to holy places. In 2017, a high number of 70,000 Indian tourists went to Israel. This trend kept going into 2018, when 40,000 Indian tourists went to Israel in the first half of the year. In March 2018, Air India started flying directly between New Delhi and Tel Aviv four times a week. These trips are faster (they take about 7 hours) and direct, so the number of tourists is likely to keep going up.

• There are about 85,000 Jews in Israel who were born to at least one Indian parent. All of them have Israeli passports. The majority of Indian people who moved to Israel did so in the 1950s and 1960s. Most of them are from Maharashtra (Bene Israelis). There are also some from Kerala (Cochini Jews) and Kolkata (Baghdadi Jews), but not as many. In the past few years, some Bnei Menashe Jews from the North Eastern states of India have moved to Israel. The older generation still lives like Indians and keeps traditional ties to India, but the younger generation is becoming more and more like Israelis.

• More than 2,000 people took part in the 2nd International Yoga Day in Israel. During the 2017 visit of the Prime Minister of India to Israel, it was decided to set up an Indian Cultural Centre in Israel.

• Young Israelis looking to relax after their mandatory military service are increasingly going to India. Signs in Hebrew in Varanasi, Manali, Kasauli, and Goa show that people are getting to know each other better.

• The Know India Programme and the Study India Programme have made it easier for people from both countries to learn about each other’s cultures. In order to help people from different cultures understand each other better, Israel will open an Indian Cultural Centre.

Others:

• Israel is also joining the International Solar Alliance (ISA), which is run by India. Both countries want to work together more on renewable energy and clean energy, so this is a great way to do that.

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How important Israel is to India

India and Israel both live in complicated parts of the world and are aware that there are strategic threats to peace and stability in the area.

Defence:

• Israel’s biggest market for guns is India, where they sell an average of $1 billion worth of weapons every year. After the US and Russia, Israel has become one of the most important places for India to get arms. Cooperation with Israel is important if the U.S. wants to be able to make its own weapons, which is a strategic necessity.

• Israel has helped India in two wars with Pakistan. During the Kargil war, when India ran out of gun shells, this shows how important Israel is.

Kashmir:

• Israel backs India’s position on Kashmir and its work to stop terrorists across borders.

Agriculture and Water Management:

• Israel is a world leader in drip irrigation and was the first country to grow crops in a desert where water is scarce. India’s farming and water control have been improved by Israeli technologies. The Israeli company IDE has built several desalination plants in India, including one in Tamil Nadu that can clean 100 million litres of water per day.

Terrorism:

• Israel backs the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT), which was offered by India to fight all kinds of terrorism.

• Military cooperation and fighting terrorism have been at the heart of relations between the two countries.

• Flagship projects like “Startup India” and “Smart Cities” are also likely to get ideas and momentum from joint efforts with successful Israeli businesses and government policies.

Regional Security:

• Peace and security in West Asia are important to India from a strategic point of view. The tension and competition between Saudi Arabia and Iran has become the most important geopolitical problem, giving India a chance to strengthen ties between Israel and other countries in the region.

India-lsrael-USA:

• India wants to work with Israel because the Jewish group in the US helps American politicians in important ways. Over the last few years, India and the US have grown closer, and there have been some tentative steps towards forming a trilateral strategic relationship between the three countries.

How India is important to Israel

Israel wants to take the relationship between the two countries to a new level that goes beyond military tools and spy software.

Defence Market:

• India is the country that buys the most arms from Israel. Between 2012 and 2016, India bought 41% of Israel’s arms exports, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research agency (SIPRI), which is an independent global conflict and arms-research agency.

• Because India is moving towards modernising its military, strengthening links with India could be good for Israel’s economy.

Palestine:

• India has always tried to keep a balance between Israel and Palestine and has backed a solution with two states. But in 2015, India chose not to vote against Israel at the U.N. Human Rights Council report found proof that both Israel and Hamas committed “alleged war crimes” during the Gaza conflict in 2014. The report called for Israeli officials to be held accountable. The reason for this is that the UNHRC motion mentioned bringing Israel to the International Criminal Court, which India thinks is “intrusive.”

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Middle East Problem:

• The nuclear deal between the US and Iran and Russia’s support for Hezbollah, a Shia militia group, and the ‘Assad’ (Syria) government have made it even more important for Israel to build strong ties with India.

Tourism:

• Young Israelis who want to relax after their mandatory military service are now most likely to go to India.

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Challenges in Relations

Palestine Issue:

• India backs a “two-state” solution between Israel and Palestine and will back all efforts to find a solution, even when it comes to the controversial issue of Jerusalem, which Israel has claimed in its full since 1967. Palestine was “shocked” that India didn’t vote on the Gaza Strip issue at the UNHRC in 2015 and said that the vote was a “departure.”

• Recently, the US President said that the US will accept Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. India’s vote at the UNGA (UN General Assembly) on December 21, 2017, for a negotiated solution to the Jerusalem problem was in line with what it has always said about the Israel-Palestine issue.

Israel Palestine conflict

• The conflict between Israel and Palestine has been going on for decades. It started in the middle of the 20th century when Britain gave Jews from all over the world a place to live in what is now Israel.

• Israel has been in control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which the Palestine state claims, for one of the world’s longest wars.

• As part of the peace process, different groups of countries and the United Nations have tried many times to end the war.

• As time went on, the Abraham Accord, the Oslo Accord, and the PLO itself helped the countries around Israel get along better.

• But the situation is still stuck in a stalemate, and the world is still trying hard to find a two-state solution.

Treaty on Bilateral Investment (BIT):

• India and Israel signed a BIT in 1996. India, however, is said to have ended this when it ended 58 BITs on its own recently. Both sides will have to start over if they want to talk about a new BIT. But there are problems because Israel and India have very different ideas about BITs, as shown in their Model BITs from 2003 and 2016, respectively.

The first difference is about the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS): the Israeli model gives an investor the option to send any business dispute with a state to international arbitration if it can’t be solved through negotiations within six months. The Indian model makes it hard for an investor to bring an ISDS claim because there are many rules about how to do it and where it can be heard.

Second, Israel’s model gives a broad meaning of foreign investment that is based on assets and includes both foreign direct investment (FDI) and portfolio investment. The Indian model of 2016 defines investment narrowly as a business (along with its assets) that has to meet certain criteria, such as having “significance for the development” of the host country. This is a phrase that is not defined in the BIT.

Third, the Israeli model has a broad Most Favoured Nation (MFN) clause, which is missing from the Indian model. The MFN clause is a key part of not favouring one country over another in international economic ties.

From Israel’s point of view, the lack of MFN would mean that its businesses would have no recourse under international law if India treated them unfairly, like by giving more incentives to a different defence maker instead of an Israeli one.

Fourth, the Indian approach takes taxation out of the scope of the BIT all together. So, the foreign owner can’t use ISDS even if the taxes are unfair, discriminatory, or take more than they should.

Trade:

• Since 2010, the two countries have been talking about a free-trade deal for goods and services. This should make it easier to invest and do business with each other. To tap into the untapped potential, there is a need to increase bilateral trade and broaden the types of economic partnership.

Israel and the Arab World:

• India’s close relationships with the Arab world have always made it hard for the country to publicly work with Israel.

Approach towards China:

• India and Israel treat China in different ways. India is worried about China’s rise, but China is Israel’s biggest trading partner in Asia and the two countries have strong links in science and investment.

De-Hyphenating Israel-Palestine:

• The “two-state solution” and the fact that India voted in favour of the resolution to raise the Palestinian flag at the United Nations and signed on to BRICS declarations “opposing the continuous Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Territories” show that India’s support for Palestinians hasn’t changed. However, during the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Israel in July 2017, the media reported that India was “dehyphenating” its relationship with Israel.

De-hyphenation

• All Indian officials, including the President of India, have always gone to both Palestine and Israel together. They have never gone to either country on their own. But the fact that Prime Minister Modi recently went to Israel without meeting with Palestinian leaders in Ramallah showed that India is trying to separate Israel and Palestine.

• Getting rid of the hyphen means dealing with each problem on its own, instead of always dealing with them together. Hyphenation makes it harder to plan ahead.

• Benefits of Getting Rid of Hyphens Getting rid of the hyphens could give Indian policymakers more room to develop India’s bond with Israel. India hasn’t been able to make pragmatic links that help India’s national interests in places other than West Asia because it has a mixed foreign policy.

• India’s Current Position: India has said that it is “strategic intent and commitment” to improve ties with both the Arab world and Israel at the same time, without letting it become a “zero-sum game.” India’s strategy is to back Palestine’s cause strongly while keeping good relations with Israel.

Recent Developments

• In 2017, India voted against the UNGA Resolution that would have made Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

• UNHRC motion, 2018: India voted in favour of a motion that condemned the use of Israeli forces against the Palestinians.

• UNHRC Resolution, 2021: India didn’t vote on a resolution that would have set up a permanent committee to look into violations of human rights in Gaza, the West Bank, and Palestine.

Even though India voted against Israel at the UN or didn’t vote for or against Israel, both countries have become more involved since 1992.

• Pegasus row:

It is spying software made by a private Israeli company. People were very angry when they heard that Pegaus were being used in India.

Geostrategic experts think that the dispute won’t hurt the relationship between India and Israel because the software is bought by the states for their own security, both inside and outside the country.

• Abraham Accord: This deal has made it easier for many west Asian countries to get along with Israel.

It has given India the political room it needs to get closer to Israel.

Pegasus Row

• NSO Group, a private company in Israel, makes Pegasus, which is a type of spyware.

• It’s bad software that affects the target phone or computer even if they don’t click on the links and keeps track of what they do.

• In its statement, the company said that it sells the product to countries and that the Israel Defence Exports Council has given its permission. It also said that the Pegasus is meant to fight terrorists.

• People who work for human rights have said that the government has used the software to go after outspoken media, human rights watchdogs, and members of the civil society.

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Critical Views on India-Israel Relations

• The Modi government has stopped Delhi from only looking at the area through the lens of the “Arab-Israeli conflict.” No country in the Arab world bases its relationships with the rest of the world on how it treats Israel. This change can be seen in the way that India’s geostrategic calculations now include Israel with confidence.

• Even though India’s defence, security, and economic ties with Israel have been getting better since the 1990s, the Modi government is credited with bringing the relationship “out of the closet” and making it more strategic. Under his leadership, New Delhi not only grew the scope of India-Israel’s strategic partnership, but also moved away from the traditional “balancing act” between the two countries.

• The Modi government’s foreign policy is characterised by a strong defence of Indian interests. This is clear in the way the government acts towards Israel, which is a big change from the needless and useless hesitation of the past. Even though India and Israel have had diplomatic ties for more than 25 years and work together on defence, anti-terrorism, agriculture, and energy problems, neither India’s Prime Minister nor President has ever been to Israel.

• The domestic political climate continues to have a big effect on the direction of ties between India and Israel. Israel has been a good friend to India, but New Delhi is still afraid to show how much it cares. When India really needed help from Israel, it got it without any questions. For this help to come, it must be known that it is needed.

• India and Israel both have to deal with terrorism, which comes from both disgruntled groups inside their own countries and from nearby states that are getting better at giving terrorist groups weapons of mass destruction. Since their situations are so similar, they need to work together and show how tough they can be.

• However, the Indian President’s 2015 speech in Israel was mostly about India’s economic and technological cooperation with Israel. In Palestine and Jordan, on the other hand, he said that New Delhi was still committed to the Palestinian cause, which showed that India has no plans to stop supporting Palestinian statehood as it has in the past. This policy reminds me of the ideas behind India’s strategy towards West Asia. At a time when the strategic partnership between India and Israel has grown to be more important than their traditional defence and trade ties, the President’s comments show that the Israel policy is still based on internal politics and ideological restrictions.

• India’s fixation on looking at Arab-Israeli relations through the lens of the Palestinian issue gives New Delhi’s vague policies in the area another facet. Arab-Israeli relations have changed, so the need to “balance” its West Asia strategy doesn’t have to look like it did in the past. But India’s attitude towards Palestine has changed in some ways. Even though India still says it supports the Palestinian cause, it has become less angry about how Israel treats Palestinians. It has also started blaming the Palestinians for suicide bombs and other acts of terrorism against Israel, which people used to think were okay because of how Israel treated the Palestinians.

• It’s becoming clearer that this reevaluation is based on the fact that India’s mostly pro-Arab attitude in the Middle East has not been rewarded by the Arab world in a way that makes sense. India hasn’t gotten much help from Arab countries in dealing with issues in its neighbourhood, especially in Kashmir. The Arab world hasn’t done anything serious to try to get Pakistan to stop the cross-border conflict in Kashmir.

• On the other hand, the Arab countries have stuck by Pakistan and used the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to help Islamabad and the jihadi groups in Kashmir get more support. If Arab countries like Jordan have been able to keep their traditional ties with Palestine while building a new relationship with Israel, there’s no reason India can’t do the same. This could give India more political room to move.

• However, according to C. Raja Mohan, a well-known geopolitical analyst, says that the NDA government knows how sensitive Palestine is and is also very aware of India’s large stakes in the Arab Gulf. The Arab Gulf is India’s main source of imported energy, the most important place for India’s expatriate workers to go, and a major market for India’s goods. He also knows how important it is that India and Iran work together to protect India’s interests in Central Asia and help Afghanistan get back on its feet after the U.S. troops leave.

• Because of this, the government has rejected claims that it has made a “fundamental break” with the Palestinian cause. Also, when Indian President Pranab Mukherjee went to Israel, he also went to Palestine. He also put a lot of effort into reiterating India’s “unwavering” support for the Palestinian cause and its promise to “work with all like-minded nations to find a peaceful solution to this long-running conflict.”

• In the future, though, India’s ability to keep the Palestinian problem separate from its relations with Israel could be put to the test. As the security situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories gets worse and Israel faces more international pressure to put an end to the conflict, it may not be long before Tel Aviv turns to New Delhi for diplomatic support. India may be forced to take a more clear stand on the conflict, something it has avoided doing so far.

• The continuing competition and conflicts in West Asia have shown that a new, strong approach is needed to make the area safer. India has many different and important interests in West Asia. Because of this, we can’t take a “either/or” approach to the region and try to build ties with one side at the cost of the other. Again, the trouble in the region, where most of the things that have always been true are being questioned in a setting of strong competition, makes it very important to work hard for stability in all areas.

Way Forward

• P2P contact: Even though relations between the two states are getting better, people still don’t talk to each other much. The relationship between the two countries will grow stronger if more people in each country get involved.

• More trade: The amount of trade between the two countries has been going up every year, but it’s still a long way below what it could be. The FTA should be put into place soon, and the trade basket needs to grow.

• Finding a balance: Israel seems like an obvious partner, but India should also care about the human rights situation in Palestine. So far, India has been able to meet both its geostrategic goals and the moral standards of the rest of the world.

• China and Israel: In recent years, China’s relationship with Israel has been getting stronger and stronger, mostly because of Israel’s technology. From now on, India should take the lead in developing its relationship with Israel.

• India and Israel have a unique, multifaceted, multidisciplinary, and all-around relationship that is based on trust and pragmatic communication. There are still some disagreements, but they are not insurmountable.

• India and Israel have strong plans for working together internationally. They can look into and start joint projects in countries like Maldives, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Afghanistan, where they both have interests.

• There are many more ways in which partnership between two countries will help both of them. People often think that India-Israel relations are built on security and the military, but the base is much broader than that, and it will grow to include more areas in the future. The friendship between India and Israel hasn’t reached its full potential yet, and there are many more ways that India and Israel can work together in the years to come.