No wavering: Modi aligns India with Israel

To some ears, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ending his landmark speech to the Knesset on Wednesday with the words “Am Yisrael Chai” might have sounded unspectacular.

- By HERB KEINON

A foreign leader seeking to win the good graces of his hosts by repeating, in their native tongue, a phrase laden with meaning for the locals.

But those ears would have missed the larger historical resonance.

India’s founding father, Mahatma Gandhi – who leaned firmly against Zionism - would likely have squirmed; his successor, Jawaharlal Nehru, whose government kept Israel at arm’s length for decades, might well have winced.

Yet there stood the leader of the world’s most populous country, breaking with the instincts of his nation’s founders and declaring that the people of Israel live.

To understand the magnitude of Modi’s words, it is necessary to briefly revisit where India once stood.

In the early decades of the 20th century, the Indian National Congress's position on Israel was largely shaped by domestic politics.

Gandhi's opposition to Zionism and sympathy for the Arab cause were largely influenced by his desire to maintain unity with India's Muslim leaders in the struggle against British rule. Nehru carried that legacy into India's early foreign policy, opposing the 1947 UN partition plan and keeping Israel diplomatically distant to avoid alienating Arab states and to remain sensitive to Muslim sentiment at home.

That posture defined India's approach for decades. India recognized Israel in 1950Modi told the Knesset this happened on the day he was born - but full diplomatic ties were deferred until 1992. Sympathy for the Palestinian cause became a central tenet of Indian foreign policy.

What unfolded in the Knesset on Wednesday marked something altogether different.

Modi invoked the Indus Valley and the Jordan Valley. He spoke of tikkun olam, the Hebrew term for repairing the world, and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, an ancient Sanskrit phrase meaning, "The World is One Family.

He placed Hanukkah and Purim alongside the Hindu festivals of Diwali and Holi.