International Relations : India Israel

                                 The people connection  

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accompanied on his visit to India by a large delegation drawn from the defense, cyb­er, and agricultural sectors; he in­tends to boost trade, investment,

and tourism between the two na­tions. This year, Israel’s Ministry of Tourism will spend $5­6 million in India in a bid to boost tourism to Israel. The goal is to have one lakh tourists visiting Israel in 2018. Once distant When I was growing up in Kolkata

in the 1950s and ’60s, India had virtually no relations with Israel. I

remember a singular exception: an Israeli school friend of my

brother’s who was sent to study at La Martiniere. His father was post­ed in Nepal on deputation to the Air Force. Yusef would tell us co­lourful stories of life in Israel. There were a few other Israeli vis­itors who held dual passports (Is­rael allows this) who were able to come to India. Several people from the Israeli foreign service vi­sited India to help make arrange­ments for those Jews who wishedto make  aliyah – the right of any Jew to “ascend” to Israel. As the Marathi Jews were always the lar­gest in number among India’s Jew­ish communities, they made the

largest aliyah. Most Israelis knew little about India until about the mid­1990s. Some of the European pioneers of Israel were familiar with Tagore’s writings, and a street in Tel Aviv is named after him. Many Israelis knew of Mahatma Gandhi. Few

know about the 800­ year­ old In­dian hospice that was set up at the

site where the Su saint, Baba Farid, is said to have prayed and

meditated when he visited Jerusa­lem in the 13th century. It serves as a guesthouse for pilgrims of all faiths who come to Jerusalem to

pray at Al­Aqsa mosque.  India recognised the state of Is­rael in 1950, and in 1953 permitted it to open a consulate in Mumbai.

Despite there being no formal rela­tions, Israel provided India with

crucial intelligence information during several wars. Full diplo­

matic relations were established between India and Israel until 1992

when India opened its embassy in Tel Aviv. Though there are many Indian Jews living in Israel – over 80,000 –they have remained a relatively quiet and somewhat “invisible” community. In Israel, Indian Jews are largely subsumed into the larg­er “Mizrahi” community of non­ white Jews from North Africa and

West Asia. Few in Israel know about the Jews of India, their va­ried histories, and the marked cul­tural and ethnic distinctions bet­

ween them. This is largely due to where in Israel the Indian Jews set­tled, which, for economic and pol­itical reasons, was primarily in pe­ripheral towns. When Jews from India rst arrived in the 1940s and ’50s, the darker­skinned Bene Is­rael and Cochin Jews faced dis­crimination from the predomi­nantly powerful European

(Ashkenazi) Jews.The Jews from Cochin settled mostly in oshavs”, or communi­ty farms, in southern Israel. There, they became very successful at growing and export. The Bene Israel Jews from the Konkan were in a range of middle­class, modestly­paying rofessions.

They settled in smaller towns such as Ashdod, Ramla, and Lod. In the 1960s, the Bene Israelis fought and won a major case to be fully ac­cepted as Jews. Far fewer in numbers were the Baghdadi Jewish arrivals from Mumbai, Pune, and Kolkata. They became part of the much larger Iraqi Jewish community or inte­grated with other English­ speak­ing immigrants to Israel. In the lastfew years, about 1000 Bnei Me­nashe Jews from Manipur and Miz­oram have made  aliyah  as well; many of them have been placed in Israeli Settlements in the West Bank. The Indian Jews in Israel have

always held strong ties to India. They celebrate Indian Indepen­

dence Day and Republic Day, and many of them, especially the Bene Israelis, listen to Indian music and watch Indian lms, hold Indian cultural events for community members, and open Indian stores which stock the groceries and spices. They have formed their

own associations, issue their own community publications, and

keep their Indian Jewish traditions alive. However, very few Israelis in the past came to know about India from the Indian Jews who lived there. ‘ A human bridge’ Indian Jews were feted during

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel last year. This visit

commemorated 25 years of diplomatic ties between the two nations. Mr. Netanyahu called the Indian diaspora.

        “a human bridge”

between the two nations. I would argue that it is young Israelis who

have looked to India over the last 25 years, and who have come to

know India firsthand, who have played a more significant role in familiarizing  Israelis with India.  More than 40,000 Israelis visit

India each year. For a country with a population of 6.5 million, that is a considerable number. India is now almost an obligatory visit for

Israelis after finishing their compulsory army service. They live in

the smaller towns and villages of India for as long as their money

can last them, and revel in the freedom India from them after

their rigorous term of service. 

                     Jael Silliman is an author, scholar, and women’s rights activist based in Kolkata