India festival of color
tel aviv
Diplomatic ties
India officially recognized Israel two years after the Jewish state declared independence in 1948. In the aftermath of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, India implemented many capitalist economic reforms, recognizing the benefits of opening markets in other countries. As India gravitated towards the West, it established full diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992.[6] In February 1992, Israel opened an embassy in New Delhi, and in May of the same year India opened an embassy in Tel Aviv.[7]
The establishment of diplomatic ties paved the way for a number of bilateral visits and agreements. Since 1993, several high-level bilateral visits have taken place, including by former Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.[8] In December 1996, then-Israeli President Ezer Weizman led a 24-member delegation of Israeli businesspeople to India – the first of dozens of reciprocal visits by Israeli and Indian officials.[9]
Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s 2003 trip to India was a pivotal moment, marking the first such visit by Israel’s top government official. During his trip, Sharon met with India’s then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari and other Indian leaders and signed a series of cooperative agreements in several fields, including the environment, health, education and drug trafficking.[10] At the end of Sharon’s visit, the two nations issued the Delhi Statement on Friendship and Cooperation, aimed at enhancing bilateral agreements and creating an institutional framework between the two countries.[11] Since 1999, India’s Ministry of External Affairs and Israel’s Foreign Ministry have held annual bilateral consultations in Jerusalem and New Delhi in addition to periodic discussions on counterterrorism.[12]
Counterterrorism and security cooperation
India and Israel have stepped up security and military coordination as Islamist extremist terrorism has taken a major toll on both countries.[13][14] Terrorism has been responsible for more deaths in India than in any other country besides Iraq.[15] More than 700 Israeli civilians lost their lives to terrorism during the Second Palestinian Intifada from 2000-2005.[16]
The November 2008 terror attacks on Mumbai were a tragedy for both nations, after 10 extremists from a Pakistan-based terrorist group shot to death more than 170 people and wounded more than 300 others, including Hindus, Jews, Christians and Muslims.[17][18] Targeting Indians as well as Westerners, the gunmen attacked several sites, including two luxury hotels frequented by foreigners, a train station and a café.[19] In addition, the terrorists launched a siege against the city’s Chabad Jewish center, killing six people, including four Israelis.[20] The only surviving perpetrator, Ajmal Kasab, told police that the terrorists purposely targeted Israelis in Mumbai to “avenge the atrocities on Palestinians.”[21]
Said Israel’s then-Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni shortly after the attacks, “Dealing with terrorism must be done jointly and we must improve cooperation on this front…Israel will assist India as much as it wants.”[22]
Since the “Kargil War” of 1999 when Israel rapidly came to India’s assistance, India has increasingly turned to Israel for advanced weapons systems, and today Israel is one of the largest suppliers of defense equipment to India.[23]
Citing both nations’ commitment to democratic governance and combating terrorism, Indian Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiradithya Scindia called the India-Israel alliance a “relationship between two souls” in February 2010. Similarly, Israeli President Shimon Peres said “India’s security is as important to Israel as its own.”[24]
Economic ties
Israeli-Indian trade has grown exponentially, from $80 million in 1991 to about $4 billion in 2008.[25] India and Israel signed five significant trade and economic agreements from 1993-1996,[26] and negotiations on a free-trade agreement began in earlier this year when Peres met with India’s commerce minister.[27] On an official visit to India in January 2010, Israeli Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said, “It is one of the aims of my visit here to try to push [a free-trade agreement with India] as much as possible. It is progressing quite well and I hope it will happen very soon.”[28]
Since 1992, India and Israel have rapidly diversified their trading. Early in the relationship, economic ties were largely limited to the diamond industry, but today bilateral trade includes hi-tech, chemical and agricultural products, as well as medical equipment.[29] Israeli companies hold investments in Indian real estate, agriculture and other sectors,[30] and the countries have joint ventures in telecommunications, software and medical equipment.[31]
In the past two decades, companies in Israel and California’s Silicon Valley developed close ties as Israel provided cheaper engineering labor and research and development centers for major American technology companies such as Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Google.[32] However, as Israel’s high-tech industry has matured and business costs there have risen, many Israeli high-tech firms are similarly outsourcing part or all of their development to India in order to remain competitive.[33] Today, IT professionals from America, Israel and India collaborate on a variety of projects, creating well-paying jobs in all three countries.[34] Israeli firms Amdocs, a software developer and Ness Technologies, an IT service firm, have contracted many of their engineers from India.[35]
In 2006, American investor and billionaire Warren Buffett purchased Iscar Metalworking Co., an Israel-based company and the world’s second largest producer and supplier of metal cutting tools used by major car manufacturers such as GM and Ford. [36] Iscar currently operates and has been thriving in India, which has prompted Buffett to schedule a trip there in March 2011 along with Israeli Eitan Wertheimer, son of Iscar founder Stef Wertheimer.[37] During an annual shareholder’s meeting in May 2010, Buffett said he had decided to go to India because Iscar “is doing very well there.”[38]
Netafim is a Tel Aviv-based company that provides irrigation solutions for agriculture and landscaping and has carried out numerous projects around the world, including in India. India became Netafim’s second largest market in 2008 and continues to grow.[39] In 2008, Netafim opened a second factory in the southern Indian city of Chennai, making India the only nation to have more than one Netafim factory outside of Israel.[40] Netafim reached sales of nearly $500 million in 2007 and plans to double that number by next year partly due to its growth in India. Netafim also bases its global engineering and planning in India, although it remains an Israeli company. [41]
In the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, known as the “Rice Bowl of India,” Netafim has conducted agricultural training programs including irrigation scheduling, fertigation and crop protection. The project put 14,826 acres (6,000 hectares) of land under sprinkler and drip irrigation which were used for numerous crops such as sugarcane, citrus fruits, mango and cotton.[42] In the same state, another Israeli multinational concern, Elbit Imaging, is involved in establishing one of the country’s largest dairy farms.[43]
Tourism and cultural ties
More than 40,000 Israelis travel to India annually – four times the number of Israeli visitors a decade ago.[44] Many are Israelis who’ve recently completed their mandatory army service.[45] The Chabad movement caters to these visitors by running four centers throughout India, where large numbers of Jews congregate to attend weekly Sabbath meals and other activities. There are another seven Jewish outreach centers in India geared towards Israeli visitors.[46] Upon their return from India, many Israelis bring back elements of Indian culture including cuisine and music.[47] More than 20 books of Indian poetry have been translated into Hebrew.[48]
Numerous Indians have immigrated to Israel and are known to have Jewish roots. Israel is home to about 60,000 members of the Bnei Israel community, the largest group of Indian Jews. Bnei Israel flourished in India for more than two millennia, in the absence of widespread anti-Semitism.[49] [50]
Another 6,000 Indians are members of the Bnei Menashe tribe, believed by some to be descendants of one of the Biblical 10 lost tribes of Israel, and in 2006 more than 200 Bnei Menashe members immigrated to the Jewish state.[51] Additionally, in the 1950s many Jews from the southwestern Indian town of Cochin immigrated to Israel,[52] and today about 600 Jews from that community live in Moshav Nevatim, near the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva.[53]
Footnotes:
[1] “India country profile,” BBC News, June 7, 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1154019.stm
[2] Desai, Ronak D.; Dormandy, Xenia, “Indo-Israeli Relations: Key Security Implications,” Harvard University Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, July 10, 2008, http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/18414/indoisraeli_relations.html
[3] “Israel Turns to Outsourcing as the Shekel Soars,” Bloomberg Businessweek, July 23, 2008, http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jul2008/gb20080723_864061.htm
[4] “India and Israel in Focus,” Embassy of India-Tel Aviv, 2006, http://www.indembassy.co.il/India_Israel_2006.pdf
[5] Spiegel, Peter, “Some see Mumbai terrorism as an attack on India-Israel ties,” The Los Angeles Times, Feb. 2, 2009, http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/01/world/fg-india-israel1/2
[6] Pant, Harsh V., “India-Israel Partnership: Convergence and Constraints,” MERIA, December 2004, http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2004/issue4/jv8no4a6.html#_edn2
[7] “India-Israel Bilateral Relations,” Embassy of India-Tel Aviv, http://www.indembassy.co.il/India-Israel%20Bilateral%20relations.htm, accessed July 19, 2010
[8]“India-Israel Bilateral Relations,” Embassy of India-Tel Aviv, http://www.indembassy.co.il/India-Israel%20Bilateral%20relations.htm, accessed July 19, 2010
[9] Kapila, Subhash, “India-Israel Relations,” South Asia Analysis Group, Jan. 8, 2000, http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers2%5Cpaper131.html
[10] “Bilateral Relations: Historical Overview,” Embassy of Israel-New Delhi, http://delhi.mfa.gov.il/mfm/web/main/document.asp?SubjectID=2010&MissionID=93&LanguageID=0&StatusID=0&DocumentID=-1. accessed Nov. 19, 2009
[11] “Delhi Statement on Friendship and Cooperation between India and Israel,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sept. 10, 2003, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign+Relations/Bilateral+relations/Delhi+Statement+on+Friendship+and+Cooperation+betw.htm
[12] “Bilateral Relations: Historical Overview,” Embassy of Israel-New Delhi, http://delhi.mfa.gov.il/mfm/web/main/document.asp?SubjectID=2010&MissionID=93&LanguageID=0&StatusID=0&DocumentID=-1. accessed Nov. 19, 2009
[13] Qureshi, Ahmed, “India’s Ex-Army Chief Reveals Hegemonic Designs,” Pakistan Daily , March1, 2010, http://www.daily.pk/india%E2%80%99s-ex-army-chief-reveals-hegemonic-designs-16726/
[14] McGirk, Tim, “Israel Reacts to the Mumbai Massacre,” CNN, Nov. 28, 2008, http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1862745,00.html
[15] Tharoot, Shashi, “India’s Israel envy,” Haaretz, Jan. 23, 2009, http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/india-s-israel-envy-1.268722
[16] “B’Tselem: Israeli security forces killed 660 Palestinians during 2006,” Haaretz, Dec. 28, 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/news/b-tselem-israeli-security-forces-killed-660-palestinians-during-2006-1.208517
[17] Friedman,Thomas L., “No Way, No How, Not Here,” The New York Times, Feb. 17, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/opinion/18friedman.html; Rabinowitz, Dorothy, “Dial Mumbai for Murder,” The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 13, 2009, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704576204574530142902187118.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird
[18] Kahn, Jeremy, “Jews of Mumbai, a Tiny and Eclectic Group, Suddenly Reconsider Their Serene Existence,” The New York Times, Dec. 2, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/world/asia/03jews.html?_r=1&ref=world
[19] Polgreen, Lydia; Mekhennet, Souad, “Militant Network Is Intact Long After Mumbai Siege,” The New York Times, Sept. 29, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/world/asia/30mumbai.html; “The Next Al Qaeda?” Newsweek, Feb. 25, 2010, http://www.newsweek.com/2010/02/25/the-next-al-qaeda.html
[20] “Fighting reported at Mumbai Jewish center,” CNN, Nov. 28, 2008, http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/27/india.attacks/index.html; JPost.com staff; Lappin, Yaakov; and The Associated Press, “PM: Massacre takes us back to worst moments in our history,” The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 30, 2008, http://tinyurl.com/65w9vk; JPost.com staff, “6th Chabad House victim identified a Mexican citizen Norma Shvarzblat Rabinovich,” The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 30, 2009, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1227702376273&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[21] Ali, S Ahmed, “Mumbai locals helped us, terrorist tells cops,” The Times of India, Nov. 30, 2008, http://tinyurl.com/6aq8g5
[22] “Israel sends medical team to Mumbai as death toll climbs to 125,” Haaretz, Dec. 6. 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel-sends-medical-team-to-mumbai-as-death-toll-climbs-to-125-1.258317
[23] Srivastava, Siddharth, “Israel rushes to India’s defense,” Asia Times Online, April 2, 2009, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KD02Df02.html; Shapir, Yiftah S., “Israel’s Arms Sales to India,” Strategic Assessment 12:3, November 2009, http://www.inss.org.il/upload/%28FILE%291259664485.pdf
[24] Khemlani, Brijesh, “India-Israel: A Robust Strategic Partnership,” Royal United Services Institute, May 20, 2010, http://www.rusi.org/publications/newsbrief/ref:A4BF566DD21BB8/
[25] Spiegel, Peter, “Some see Mumbai terrorism as an attack on India-Israel ties,” The Los Angeles Times, Feb. 2, 2009, http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/01/world/fg-india-israel1/2; Lal, Neeta, “India’s eye in the sky takes aim,” Asia Times Online, April 21, 2009, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KD21Df01.html
[26] “India – Israel Bilateral Trade and Economic Relations,” Israel Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, http://www.moital.gov.il/NR/exeres/4B0C4DCC-EDC0-45EB-AC60-E449C9EA26FA.htm, accessed July 19, 2010
[27] Coren, Ora, “India, Israel to hold free-trade talks,” Haaretz, Feb. 25, 2010, http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/business/india-israel-to-hold-free-trade-talks-1.263723
[28] Kuber, Girish, “Indo-Israeli trade ties the target,” The Times of India, Nov. 29, 2010, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Indo-Israeli_trade_ties_the_real_target/articleshow/3771494.cms
[29] “India – Israel Bilateral Trade and Economic Relations,” Economic Mission of Israel in India, February 2005, http://www.tamas.gov.il/NR/exeres/4B0C4DCC-EDC0-45EB-AC60-E449C9EA26FA.htm
[30] Spiegel, Peter, “Some see Mumbai terrorism as an attack on India-Israel ties,” The Los Angeles Times, Feb. 2, 2009, http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/01/world/fg-india-israel1/2
[31] “India – Israel Bilateral Trade and Economic Relations,” Israel Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, http://www.moital.gov.il/NR/exeres/4B0C4DCC-EDC0-45EB-AC60-E449C9EA26FA.htm, accessed July 19, 2010
[32] Haynes, William-Arthur, “Billions flow between Israel, Silicon Valley,” Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, Feb. 4, 2009, http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2009/02/02/focus1.html?page=2
[33] “Israel Turns to Outsourcing as the Shekel Soars,” Bloomberg Businessweek, July 23, 2008, http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jul2008/gb20080723_864061.htm
[34] “Amdocs,” Microsoft Case Studies, May 12, 2010, http://www.microsoft.com/india/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?casestudyid=4000007230; Peretz, Sami, “No overnight fortunes,” Haaretz, Dec. 23, 2004, http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/no-overnight-fortunes-1.144968
[35] Sandler, Neal, “A Boom in Israel’s Exports to India,” Bloomberg Businessweek, Aug. 28, 2008, http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/aug2008/gb20080828_867715.htm
[36] Odenheimer, Alisa; Ben-David, Calev, “Buffett’s Iscar Lured to China in Bid to Take Sandvik’s Lead,” Bloomberg Businessweek, April 21, 2010, http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-21/buffett-s-iscar-lured-to-china-in-bid-to-take-sandvik-s-lead.html
[37] “Buffett acquisition of Wertheimer’s Iscar puts Israel on the investment map,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, May 7, 2006, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Israel+beyond+politics/Buffett%20acquisition%20of%20Iscar%20puts%20Israel%20on%20the%20investment%20map%207-May-2006; “Buffett to Visit Japan, Praises China’s Prospects (Update1),” Bloomberg Businessweek, May 3, 2010, http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-03/buffett-to-visit-japan-praises-china-s-prospects-update1-.html
[38] Anand, Shefali, “How a 12-Year-Old Revealed Warren Buffett’s India Trip,” The Wall Street Journal (India Real Time), May 5, 2010, http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2010/05/05/a-question-for-warren-buffett-uncle/; Herbst-Bayliss, Svea; Stempel, Jonathan, “Warren Buffett to visit India, won’t rule out investment,” Reuters, May 2, 2010, http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-48155420100502
[39] Sandler, Neal, “A Boom in Israel’s Exports to India,” Bloomberg Businessweek, Aug. 28, 2008, http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/aug2008/gb20080828_867715.htm
[40] “About Us,” Netafim-India Web site, http://www.netafim-india.com/aboutus.html, accessed July 20, 2010
[41] Sandler, Neal, “A Boom in Israel’s Exports to India,” Bloomberg Businessweek, Aug. 28, 2008, http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/aug2008/gb20080828_867715.htm
[42] “Projects,” Netafim-India Web site, http://www.netafim-india.com/majorclients_13.html, accessed May 5, 2008
[43] “Elbit Imaging to build giant dairy in India,” YnetNews, July 5, 2009, http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3741451,00.html; “Govt gives nod for biggest dairy farm,” The Times of India, July 3, 2009, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Govt-gives-nod-for-biggest-dairy-farm/articleshow/4730840.cms
[44] Spiegel, Peter, “Some see Mumbai terrorism as an attack on India-Israel ties,” The Los Angeles Times, Feb. 1, 2009, http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/01/world/fg-india-israel1
[45] Freedman, Samuel, “Between Israel and India, a Link Based on Culture and, Now, Terrorism,” The New York Times, Nov. 28, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/us/29religion.html?_r=2
[46] “Chabad-Lubavitch Centers in India,” Chabad.org, http://www.chabad.org/centers/default_cdo/country/India/jewish/Chabad-Lubavitch.htm, accessed July 19, 2010; Kroll, Chana, “For Backpackers on the Himalayas, Jewish Center Offers Refuge,” Chabad Web site, Aug. 20, 2009, http://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/968330/jewish/Finding-a-Jewish-Home-in-Northern-India.htm
[47] Freedman, Samuel, “Between Israel and India, a Link Based on Culture and, Now, Terrorism,” The New York Times, Nov. 28, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/us/29religion.html?_r=2
[48] “Strategic Dialogues,” Aspen Institute India, http://www.aspenindia.org/india_israel_new.asp, accessed July 20, 2010
[49] Freedman, Samuel, “Between Israel and India, a Link Based on Culture and, Now, Terrorism,” The New York Times, Nov. 28, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/us/29religion.html?_r=2
[50] Weil, Dr. Shalva, “Bene Israel of Mumbai, India,” Beth Hatefusoth: The Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, http://www.bh.org.il/database-article.aspx?48701, accessed July 20, 2010
[51] “Indians Immigrate to Israel,” AFP via The New York Times, Nov. 17, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/17/world/asia/17tribe.html?pagewanted=all
[52] Moshe, Janet M., “Proud of Their Roots, ” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, Feb. 1, 2001, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Israel+beyond+the+conflict/Proud+of+Their+Roots.htm
[53] “Moshav shocked by holiday theft of Torah ornaments,” Haaretz, Oct. 22, 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/moshav-shocked-by-holiday-theft-of-torah-ornaments-1.255826
