Israel & The World
By Prof. (Dr.) D.K. Giri
(Secretary General, Assn for Democratic Socialism)
The Israel-Palestine war is raging ghoulishly with horrendous consequences. The world is reacting in various ways as per their respective understanding and in line with their national interests. Radical reactions and developments are happening quite often around the war. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity; so also against three Hamas leaders. The International Court of Justice has urged the warring countries for a ceasefire. Three European countries – Spain, Ireland and Norway – have recognised the state of Palestine in the midst of the war incurring heavy wrath of Israel which has recalled its ambassadors from these countries.
Israel attacked a part of Rafah city on 26 May plunging it into flames that killed 45 people, injured many, the total number is hard to determine. The attack was on an encampment of makeshift shelters in the North of Rafah city in an area called Tal as-Sultan. As per media reports, the Israel army dropped seven 900 kg bombs as well as fired missiles on the displacement camp. Horrific videos emerged of the aftermath of the attack. Israel army said that it targeted Rafah with ‘precision munitions’, but a nearby fuel tank led to the subsequent fire. This latest attack on the civilians has triggered an outrage among world leaders.
The French President Emanuel Macron, a close ally of Israel in Europe said, “These operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians. I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire”. Germany through its Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock endorsed by EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell called upon Israel to stop such attacks in deference to the international court ruling. Saudi Arabia condemning the Israel attack warned that Rafah strike could hinder efforts to mediate a ceasefire and hostage exchange.
Qatar, which hosts the truce talks between Israel and Hamas decried the Israel attack, “Qatar views this action as a grave violation of international laws and a further exacerbation of the humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory”. The United States had cautioned before the attack that “attack on Rafah by Israel would be crossing redline”.
Reactions from two other countries are noteworthy as they have visceral hatred against Israel. The countries are Turkey and Iran. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, fulminating against Israel Prime Minister said, “The embattled Netanyahu and his murderous network trying to extend grip on power by massacring people”. On Israel, he lambasted, “Sunday’s attack on Rafah, which came after the ICJ’s order, has exposed the treacherous and bloody nature of the terror state”. The spokesman of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kan’ani said that the Zionist regime’s attack on the Palestinian refugees’ tent camp has to be strongly condemned and a practical response from the international community needs to be taken.
Intriguingly, many world leaders are harping on the retaliation by Israel which is obviously causing pathetic deaths and destruction in Palestine. They do not mention the cause of the war and its continuation. Worse, they make such ethical statements without doing much on the ground to stop the bloodshed. Sadly, and unfortunately, wars in Ukraine and Palestine go unabated as the world wisdom fails to find a solution. On the contrary, vested interests are exploiting the situation by peddling their nefarious interests. Iran is actively backing the terrorist organisations like Houthis in Yemen, Hamas and Hezbollahs against Israel. The western countries are said to be abetting the war in Ukraine by supplying or selling arms.
What is India’s reaction to the war in the Middle East? As usual, New Delhi has been taking a balanced position; condemning the 7 October attack on Israel, supporting Israel off and on as it battles terrorism on its borders, endorsing a two-state solution, provides humanitarian support to civilian victims of war in Palestine. But why is New Delhi quiet when the whole world is reacting to Israel offensive? Israel seems to be increasingly diplomatically isolated.
Yet, New Delhi is making no statement or taking no step in resolving the bloody conflict. Remember, Netanyahu in his last election had put up the posters of Israel-friendly world leaders including that of Narendra Modi. While India is going through Parliamentary elections for one-and-half month that coincides with the escalation of the battle between Israel and Palestine, Indian leadership is not saying much or rather anything on the conflict.
New Delhi’s dilemma in responding to Israel-Palestine imbroglio is understandable. It depends heavily on the Arab states for oil supply, and on their sizeable number in the international forums. New Delhi also is conscious of 7 million Indians working in Arab countries contributing decently to its forex reserves. India has been a steady supporter of Palestine since her colonial period. In 1974, India was the first non-Arab country to recognise PLO as the sole representative of Palestine. In 1988, India was one of the first countries to recognise the state of Palestine.
That said India made a strategic shift in its Middle East policy by decoupling Israel, and Palestine. The reasons for this tectonic shift in its traditional policy are as follows. One, by 1992, India had established full diplomatic relations with Israel as the bilateral relations grew in various sectors – economic, military, agriculture, space research, political and security. Israel was one of the few countries to directly help India during the Kargil war.
Second, during Operation Parakram against Pakistan in response to the Parliament attack, Israel supplied heavy hardware on demand. Israel has become the largest defence partner and the third largest trading partner in Asia. Third, in the past, Israel has stood by India during any security threat. It supplied weapons in the 1962 war against China.
Fourth, India had received no backing from the Arab countries on Kashmir issue. The Arab countries have not reined in on Pakistan on cross-border terrorism. Israel has supported India on both these issues. It supported India during the Indo-Pak wars even before full diplomatic ties were established. Fifth, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), set up in 1969, disallowed the membership of India despite its huge Muslim population. The OIC did it at the instigation of Pakistan. Even today, India is not a member of OIC.
Admittedly, India should be cautious enough in disturbing the balance between Israel and the Arab world. But New Delhi can put the facts objectively before the world community and involve in finding a solution by using all its diplomatic resources. For instance, New Delhi should remind the world of the cause of the present battle and persistence of that cause upheld by Hamas.
Few leaders are talking about 7 October attack on Israel and the intermittent firing of missiles by Hamas. Some would argue that the attack by Hamas is a reaction to Israeli occupation and oppression of Palestine. This is like opening the Pandora’s Box. If October 7 is taken as an independent incident that triggered the current war, then solution could be found out, one of which is, Hamas returning the hostages and laying down the arms, leaving the governance of Palestine to a civilian authority like PLA. Let India initiate a new perspective on the ongoing dialogues for a ceasefire. — INFA