What is huge India doing with a tiny country in the Middle East, whose entire population could fit into New Delhi alone twice over?
It cannot be taken for granted that this great nation has rolled out the red carpet and the prime minister, Narendra Modi, has chosen to deviate from ceremonial guidelines and stop by to surprise our own prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. It cannot be taken for granted that Modi tweets messages – seen by the entire world, including Arab and Muslim countries – that include an explicit welcome in Hebrew on the occasion of the historic visit.
And then there was the brave embrace between the two.
For many years, Israel and India had no diplomatic relations, and even when ambassadors were appointed in 1992, India played down ties with Israel. Anyone looking at the development of diplomatic relations between the two countries needs to see them from the perspective of the past 70 years. True, India voted in the United Nations against U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement recognizing Jerusalem as our capital, but that is what it has done all these years. Relations take years to change fully, and we're only just beginning. Patience. Good things will come.
India and Israel face similar threats from radical Islam, and India needs Israeli technology in a number of fields, including military, agriculture, and high-tech. It also needs Israel to strengthen its ties with the U.S., and for other reasons.
Yes, the ties between the two countries are based on mutual interests, but the meeting is bolstered significantly when one understands that it is also a meeting of two great civilizations that have survived the wheels of time. The way the Indians see it, it was not only the prime minister of Israel who was standing on the red carpet in New Delhi yesterday, but the entire Jewish people, a civilization no less great than their own when our contribution to Western culture throughout the years is taken into account.
We also have things in common when it comes to history. Both India and the Land of Israel suffered under Arab-Muslim occupation for hundreds of years. The Muslim conquerors destroyed many Indian temples and forced the masses to convert to Islam. Both India and Israel won their independence after a period of British rule. Both countries are afraid of extremist Muslims getting their hands on a nuclear bomb: in our case, Iran, and in the Indians' case, Pakistan.
Right after the meeting at the airport, we hurried to a New Delhi square for a ceremony to rename it Haifa Square. It seems that Indian soldiers also fought to liberate the Land of Israel from the Ottomans in World War I. Brave Indian soldiers died on our land and helped promote the dream of the return to Zion, which would come true 30 years later. The memorial in the square is engraved with the names of the fronts on which the Indian fallen were stationed, including Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley, and Haifa. An alliance of blood. And now a diplomatic alliance, too.
Far from Israel, I watched the astonishing bitterness of some of our dedicated journalists, who competed over who could show the most blatant contempt for the importance of the historic visit. Hadashot news shoved the item about the visit far back on the program. How can it compare to the Yair Netanyahu tapes, which opened the broadcast with a war cry?
It's a matter of proportionality. They called us "provincial" because of our excitement. Fine. The Indians are provincial too, because they were also excited. Apparently, they understand why.
