India’s history of terror makes it sympathetic toward Israel’s war

Within hours of Hamas’s barbaric October 7 attacks, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media to express his support for Israel.

“Deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel,” he posted on X to his 94 million followers. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour.”

Modi followed that tweet three days later with another one after speaking to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “People of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour. India strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.”

To Israelis, these posts seemed somewhat of a no-brainer: Israel and India have close ties; Modi is known as a friend of Israel; therefore, of course, he would tweet his support at such a moment.

But these posts – these expressions of solid support – were not a given, especially considering that India’s 1.4 billion population includes a massive Muslim minority of some 200 million, and also considering its historic ties with Iran.

Granted, Modi revolutionized Indian-Israeli relations by bringing them out of the closest and very much into the open upon his election in 2014; by not linking ties with Israel to the Palestinian issue (“de-hyphenation” in Indian diplomatic parlance); and by being the first Indian prime minister ever to visit Israel, in 2018.

But, still, this type of tweet – this type of full public support for Israel – was unprecedented for an Indian leader.

“This set the tone; it set the line of support of the Indian government for Israel,” Ambassador to India Naor Gilon said this week in a telephone interview from India. “It was unprecedented. We did not see this type of support for Israel in the past.”

And it created a backlash.

Criticism of India's support of Israel

Opposition parties, including the Congress Party, claimed that India was swinging too far toward Israel’s side and was ditching its historical backing for the Palestinian cause, and various academics were quoted in the Indian press saying that these tweets could harm India’s relations with key partners in the Middle East.

India’s Foreign Ministry was aware of all this and tried to “balance” the picture. So on October 12, its spokesman Arindam Bagchi stressed, “Our policy has been long-standing and consistent. India always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine, living within secure and recognized borders, side by side at peace with Israel. I think that position remains the same.”

Nevertheless, Gilon said, “Overall the government has been consistent in its support [during the war].” In other words, it doesn’t criticize Israel; it does send humanitarian assistance to Gaza and speak of the need to uphold international humanitarian law; it talks about a two-state solution and talks of reducing civilian casualties – but does not specify, as many others do, only Palestinian civilian casualties.

The government faced more criticism from the opposition when it abstained in a UN General Assembly vote in October calling for a humanitarian ceasefire that did not condemn Hamas.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar defended the vote at the time, explaining that it did not only reflect the “government view.”

“If you ask any average Indian, terrorism is an issue which is very close to people’s heart because very few countries and societies have suffered terrorism as much as we have,” he said.

Nonetheless, in December, India did support a similar resolution at the UN, even though that resolution did not condemn Hamas either. India did vote for an amendment that did condemn Hamas, but this amendment did not garner the two-thirds majority it needed to be included in the resolution.

IN BEING consistent in its support of Israel during the crisis, Modi’s government is reflecting wider Indian public opinion in general and Hindu nationalists, who are the base for Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in particular.

Gilon, in a radio interview soon after an explosion near the embassy in New Delhi last month, termed as “out of the ordinary” support in India for Israel. “You see it everywhere: in social media, on the street, in the number of people who wrote to me after the attempted attack,” he said.

A poll taken at the end of October bears this out. The Indian CVoter survey on October 18 showed that when Indians were asked whether they favor Israel or the Palestinians, nearly half of the respondents said Israel (48%), and a quarter the Palestinians. Furthermore, 50% of the respondents said they supported the bombing of Hamas targets in Gaza, while one-third said they opposed the move.

The pollsters, Yashwant Deshmukh and Sutanu Guru, wrote in India Today that the poll shows that “Indians are increasingly tilting towards Israel because they find common ground with Israelis as victims of indiscriminate and mindless terrorism. And yet, even as they lean towards Israel, a significant section of Indians agree that Palestinians deserve justice and a land of their own.”

The two wrote: “One of the questions asked during the survey was, ‘According to you, what should be India’s stance in the Israel-Palestine conflict?’ More than four out of every 10 respondents are of the opinion that ‘India should completely support Israel,’ while less than two in 10 are in favor of ‘completely support Palestine.’”

The pollsters wrote that the attitude of “ordinary Indians” shifted toward Israel not because of geopolitical shifts in the world or Hindu nationalism. Rather, “the reason is the repeated terror attacks on Indian cities and civilians orchestrated by the ‘deep state’ of Pakistan using soldiers of terror outfits like LeT and JeM as perpetrators.”

There is another explanation for this support: Many of India’s Hindu majority – the base of support for Modi – identify with Israel because, like Israel, they see themselves surrounded by enemies: by Muslim countries to their west and east, and by China to their north. As such, they respect “scrappy” Israel for its ability to fight and thrive – something they wish for themselves and want to emulate. Israeli officials admit, however, that this perception of Israel took a hit – and not only in India – as a result of the October 7 attacks, and this is something that needs to be restored.

One Indian source noted that there is a significant difference in support for Israel between the north of India – which has been much harder hit over the years by terrorism – and the south, which has been less affected and is more heavily Muslim.

A pro-Hamas rally was held in late October in the southernmost state of Kerala on India’s western coast that featured a video speech from Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal. Mashaal’s appearance, according to the Hindustan Times, triggered a “political slugfest,” with the ruling BJP questioning why the local police allowed the rally to take place, concerned that incitement voiced there could trigger wider domestic violence.

The opposition responded that Hamas is not illegal in India, so these rallies are permissible.

During the talk, Mashaal, according to a social media post by Gilon, called on participants to take to the streets and show anger, prepare for jihad on Israel, support Hamas financially, and promote the Palestinian narrative on social media.

It is time to add Hamas to India’s terrorist list, Gilon wrote.

One of Gilon’s predecessors, Danny Carmon, who was ambassador to India from 2014 to 2018, said that this rally set off alarm bells for the government because of the incitement heard at the rally that they feared could trigger wide unrest. “They wanted to calm things down so as not to bring the Mideast conflict to Indian streets,” he said.

The government subsequently cracked down on pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas rallies, saying they posed a risk to communal harmony and law and order, and barred them in some areas, such as Muslim-majority Kashmir, where Indian authorities were concerned about violent fallout.

One official said there is an additional reason as well for the Indian authorities cracking down on pro-Hamas rallies: 2024 is an election year, and while Modi is almost sure to win a third term, his party does not want to see protests break out over this issue at a time when the government wants to project stability over social strife.

The official also noted that in by-elections held in five states last month, the BJP – which was only expected to win in one of them – actually won in three, sending a message to Modi’s party that his support for Israel has not hurt him, and might help with his base. This also sent a message to the opposition that its more critical stance of Israel is not mobilizing the Muslim vote.

Carmon, who has been a part of some 25 television panels in India talking about the situation since the war began – including on shows traditionally critical of Israel’s policies – said that he is feeling sympathy for Israel in the media.

“There is generally sympathy and understanding,” he said. “An understanding that terrorism is something that you have to fight and an understanding of the need for self-defense. You don’t hear the enmity toward Israel that you do from the media in Europe.”