EDITORIAL: WHY DID MODI EMBRACE GENOCIDAL NETANYAHU?
Vinod Mubayi
If there is one word that captures all the nuances of Modi’s visit to Israel it is simply this: Shameful.
Prime Minister Modi spent two days in Israel, a country universally condemned for committing genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza and threatening to do the same to the Palestinians in the West Bank. Modi’s “best friend” Netanyahu has been branded a criminal for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and there is a warrant for his arrest in any country that accepts ICC’s jurisdiction. Israel is also under investigation by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a court on which Justice Bhandari from India serves, on a charge of committing genocide in Gaza. Yet Modi embraced Netanyahu in a warm hug as he descended from the aircraft on arrival in Israel and both continued to shower encomiums on each other in their time together.
The most shameful part of the visit was Modi’s address to the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, where he indulged in such a blatant one-sided pro-Israel description of terrorism that his speech could as well have been crafted by Netanyahu’s speechwriters. The only instance of terrorism he could think of was the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 without any mention of Israeli state terrorism over the last 70 plus years or, more to the point, the genocide occurring in Gaza for the last two and a half years. Perhaps, no one on his staff bothered to inform Modi about events like the slow death of a 6-year old girl Hind Rajab in Gaza as she sat alive alone in a car talking on a cell phone with a paramedic while members of her family alongside were all dead from an Israeli strike and while she waited in vain to be rescued by an ambulance that was also deliberately destroyed by the Israeli military in what can only be called a most brutal act of state terror.
Modi failed to pay even the minimal amount of lip service to the Palestinians or their struggle for a state, something that India has supported in the past for many decades under different governments. In so doing, Modi, who aspires to be a vishwaguru (world guru), showed himself instead to be a man without any principles or morals. When even leaders of countries in Western Europe that have been long standing supporters of Israel hesitate to share the stage with Netanyahu, the question arises why India’s Prime Minister is rushing to Israel and extending all means of support, political, diplomatic, economic and military, to a genocidal regime.
What is behind the majoritarian right wing Modi regime’s embrace of Israel? One factor clearly is ideological: Hindutva’s closeness to Zionism based on their joint belief and practice of Islamophobia. Then there is the military and economic factor. India has become one of the world’s largest importers of Israeli military hardware that includes drones, surveillance technology, sensors, and missiles. In addition, Indian and Israeli companies co-produce military equipment such as the collaboration between Elbit Systems of Israel and Adani.
As Azad Essa wrote in Middle East Eye, “Alongside importing Israeli arms, Delhi has become an important co-producer of Israeli weapons, a partnership set to expand Israel’s global reach.” Moreover, despite calls for an arms embargo on Israel in response to its continuing genocide in Gaza, officials from India’s Ministry of Defense met their Israeli counterparts in mid-2025 and “agreed to further strengthen bilateral defense cooperation with a long-term perspective”. India also signed an investment agreement with Israel in September 2025, during a visit to Delhi by the far right-wing Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel who has faced widespread international condemnation for committing illegal acts against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and has been sanctioned by the U.K., Canada, Australia, Norway, Spain, Slovenia, and the Netherlands for his actions. Smotrich is reported to have said that the investment agreement would “open new doors for both Israeli and Indian investors, strengthen Israeli exports, and provide businesses on both sides with certainty and tools to develop in the world’s fastest-growing markets”. The fact that India would welcome a visit from such a reprehensible criminal figure speaks volumes about the Modi regime’s alignment with a genocidal government.
At the end of Modi’s 2-day visit, there is a sense of bewilderment about why he came. The India Cable site remarked “Considering the reputational costs India has incurred by having its prime minister visit an Israeli leader officially indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, the list of “17 MOUs/agreements” and “10 announcements” put out by the Ministry of External Affairs looks and feels pitiable… There is nothing in this list to have warranted a high-level visit at this time, which raises the question of why Modi was so keen to travel to Israel.”
Israeli human rights lawyer Eitay Mack points out that while the visit was beneficial for Netanyahu as a boost for his image leading to the Israeli election expected in October, what it was meant to achieve for Modi is unclear. He terms Modi’s visit “as one of the most baffling – and embarrassing – visits by a foreign leader to Israel in recent memory.” In an important piece entitled “Prime Minister Modi Humiliated India During His Visit to Israel”, that is worth quoting at length, Mack writes:
“From the outset, the visit to Israel by India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, was questionable in its timing – months ahead of elections and at a moment when most world leaders are avoiding visits to the country or meetings with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, widely regarded as politically toxic to their public image… Yet the first day of the visit exceeded anything one might have imagined from a trip by the leader of one of the world’s largest and most important countries. In fact, it stands out as one of the most baffling – and embarrassing – visits by a foreign leader to Israel in recent memory.
On the morning of the visit, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement that effectively presented Modi not as an official guest of the State of Israel but rather as a private guest of the Netanyahu family. The statement said Modi had arrived at Netanyahu’s invitation, noting that the two leaders “maintain a close personal relationship, and that the deep and long-standing friendship between them powerfully radiates onto relations between the two countries.” It also announced that a “personal meeting” would take place, followed by a joint dinner hosted by the Netanyahu couple. The language fits neatly with the authoritarian trajectory Netanyahu has taken in recent years, one in which no distinction exists between him and the state. The State of Israel is him – and without him, there is nothing.
Prime minister Modi sought to address the Knesset, despite the fact that it no longer functions as a democratic institution but rather as a rubber stamp for Netanyahu… Modi chose to proceed with his speech as planned, addressing an audience that included political clowns, racist coalition lawmakers, and government ministers who had called to burn, kill, starve, and expel all residents of the Gaza Strip. Absurdly, Modi found himself expressing condolences to the families of those killed in the Hamas massacre of October 7 before government and coalition members who for more than two years have refused to take any responsibility for the massacre, for their policy of approving Hamas funding that helped lead to it, and who also opposed any deal to release the hostages while waging a vicious incitement campaign against the families of both the hostages and the dead.
One of the most embarrassing moments of Modi’s visit to the Knesset came when Speaker Ohana presented him with the “Knesset Medal,” purportedly for his “contribution to the State of Israel and the Jewish people,” calling it “the highest honor the Knesset can bestow.” In reality, this was a complete fabrication: no such decoration exists in any Knesset regulation or in Israeli law. Modi posted on X that “it is a great honor for me to receive the Knesset Medal. I accept it with humility and deep gratitude. This is not an honor for one individual, but an expression of the strong and enduring friendship between India and Israel. It reflects the shared values that guide our two nations.” One can only hope that the shared values of the two countries are not rooted in deception.”
In trying to come up with a reason for the Modi visit, Mack writes “For decades, Israel has offered countries in return to seeking closer ties with it two “packages”: the first – arms and assistance in internal security; the second – help in improving relations with the White House and the U.S. Congress.” In Mack’s view, since Modi does not need to travel personally to Jerusalem for Israel to agree to sell him more weapons, the latter reason, Modi seeking Netanyahu’s help to repair his relationship with Trump, is the likely one for his visit. However, considering that Modi’s relations with Trump were only disrupted for a short while following Operation Sindoor, when Trump claimed to have personally ended the India-Pakistan conflict and invited Modi’s nemesis Pakistan General Asim Munir to a cordial lunch at the White House last June, Modi’s subsequent kowtowing to Trump on the U.S.-India trade deal seems to have ended that brief period of disagreement.
Mack concludes his piece by remarking:
“Whatever the reason for the visit, prime minister Modi humiliated both himself and India. He acted and spoke like the leader of a minor state visiting a global power, desperate to curry favor. It should come as no surprise if images from the visit are later featured prominently in Netanyahu’s election campaign.”
The real reason for the Modi visit may instead lie in the aftermath of the Epstein affair as indicated by the Indian National Congress party spokesperson Pawan Khera in a very recent YouTube video available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmBvcRHqC7o
As this editorial goes to publication (February 28), the aftermath of the Modi visit is blindsided by the U.S.-Israel second attack on Iran in less than a year. Leave aside India’s millennial civilizational links with Iran, or the millions India invested in developing Iran’s Chahbahar port, or Iran’s decades long role as a supplier of oil to India. With war breaking out and Iran forced to retaliate against the multiple U.S. bases in the Gulf states, the security of the large Indian population there is at considerable risk.
Many opposition political parties in India have strongly opposed Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Israel. Their statements are below:
February 25, 2026
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
The CPI(M) strongly opposes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel.
The visit comes at a juncture when Israel has been waging a genocidal war in Gaza. Despite a ceasefire, there are daily violations by Israel which conducts strikes killing scores of Palestinians. In the occupied West Bank, there are stepped up attacks on Palestinians and a spurt in illegal settlements.
The Modi visit is thus a betrayal of the Palestinian cause and legitimizes the murderous Netanyahu regime. The declared intent of the visit is also to deepen strategic, military and economic ties with a Zionist expansionist regime which seeks to dominate the region with the help of the United States. The visit is all the more inopportune because it is taking place at a time when the United States is preparing to attack Iran militarily at the instigation of Israel.
Through this visit, the BJP government has once again laid bare its shameless commitment to the US-Israeli axis in West Asia.
Central Committee, CPI(ML) Liberation: PM Modi’s Visit to Israel, Profiteering on the Blood of Palestinians & Betrayal of India’s Anti-Colonial Legacy
CPI(ML) Liberation condemns Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel as a disgraceful act of complicity in the ongoing genocidal assault on the Palestinian people. At a time when Palestinian civilians are being massacred, displaced, and starved under a brutal Israeli occupation, this visit amounts to political endorsement and profiteering on Palestinian blood. After mortgaging India’s sovereignty and strategic autonomy to Trump’s racist agenda, Modi is now completely surrendering India’s historic legacy of anti-colonialism and solidarity with the oppressed by visiting Israel. West Asia stands at a dangerous flashpoint, with the US–Israel criminal axis escalating imperialist threats and pushing the region towards a wider war with Iran. Instead of unequivocally demanding an end to imperialist threats in the region and across the world, including Venezuela and Cuba and the dismantling of Israeli occupation and apartheid structures, the Modi regime is going all out to please Trump and his imperialist cohort, Israel. Since assuming office in 2014, the Modi regime has systematically imported Israeli models of repression to consolidate its own politics of hate at home. From bulldozer demolitions and collective punishment tactics against minorities and marginalized, to the expansion of illegal surveillance infrastructures, the BJP’s fascist politics has found role model in Israel. Modi’s visit to Israel and mortgaging India’s historic solidarity with suffering and oppressed peoples in favor of models of repression and racism, dishonor and desecrate the sacrifices of our martyrs who fought colonialism and apartheid.
In an article entitled “‘Moral Cowardice’: Opposition Parties Slam PM Modi’s Visit to Israel Amid Gaza War”, Waquar Hasan writes on February 25,2026:
Opposition parties have strongly criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel, describing it as “moral cowardice,” a “betrayal of the Palestinian cause,” and “the legitimising of the murderous Netanyahu regime,” as Israel continues its military offensive in Gaza. Israel is currently facing proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has also issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh termed the visit “moral cowardice” and highlighted India’s historical support for the Palestinian cause. “On May 20, 1960, Jawaharlal Nehru was in Gaza and met with the Indian contingent of the UN Emergency Force there. On Nov 29, 1981, India issued a commemorative postage stamp in solidarity with Palestine. On Nov 18, 1988, India formally recognised the state of Palestine.” Contrasting that period with the present, he added: “That was a different era. Now the Indian Prime Minister is brazenly embracing the Prime Minister of Israel, who has reduced Gaza to rubble and dust and who is orchestrating the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. When the entire world is critical of his ‘dear friend’ Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Modi will be displaying moral cowardice.”