Israeli media rolls out 'red carpet' for Modi

This was a visit that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his aides started planning right from the day he assumed office about three years ago. But they awaited the right moment for it to avoid rattling of diplomatic and domestic nerves.

Modi will become not only the first Indian PM but also the first government leader from the subcontinent to set foot on the Jewish state of Israel on July 4 on a three-day tour. Tel Aviv has promised to roll out a red carpet for him. Local newspapers are publishing special supplements on India. The Israeli embassy in India last week released a welcome video featuring Israelis extending greetings to Modi in Hindi. In return, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also released a video commemorating 25 years of diplomatic ties between the two nations.

The Jerusalem Post, Israel's largest English daily newspaper, has reserved a section on its website for news reports focused only on PM Modi's visit.

Another major daily, Haaretz, is debating that India is the biggest opportunity in the world and Israel is missing it, asking Tel Aviv to build more robust relationships with New Delhi.

Its columnist Shalva Weil, apprehensive of the United States under Donald Trump, seeks to move the pivot towards India. The writer, an expert on strategic affairs, suggests that both countries have a key feature in common: a large diaspora. The Jewish diaspora is India's model for cultivating investment and supporting its foreign policy. Editor David Rosenberg says the relationship is not based on traditional markers like trade and politics but on Israel's innovative prowess, which has become a valuable diplomatic asset while defining relations with India.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has termed PM Modi's visit "historic", will receive him at the Ben-Gurion Airport, a gesture reserved for the visits of US Presidents and the Pope.

In a press statement, Israel's Ambassador to India, Daniel Carmon, said that Israel would be treating PM Modi's visit with "unprecedented importance".

Over the past three months, eight Indian delegations have gone to Israel to check on details about PM Modi's visit. As reported by DNA, PM Modi will be given the same luxury suite at the King David Hotel that US President Trump stayed in during his visit. To facilitate frequent media briefings by PM Modi and accompanying officials, the hotel has moved its bar to make room for a temporary space where press conferences can be held.

In a deft move, before going to Israel, Modi, over the past three years, cultivated friendship and built trust with Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE to the extent that there were no hackles on his visit to Tel Aviv.

Also, Arab countries face more adversaries in the region these days than the perceived Israeli threat.

Israel is also perhaps the first country, responding to the PM's Make in India initiative, expressing willingness to transfer technology and enter into joint ventures with the Indian defence industry, in both production and R&D for hi-tech military equipment.

However, in terms of trade, Israel enjoys a huge surplus with India, with its non-defence exports being worth $2.4 billion to India, while imports of Indian merchandise standing at $1.76 billion in 2016.

Sources in the government said preparations are also underway for a public meeting, a New York Madison Square Garden-like event, where the PM received a rockstar-like reception. The event is planned for July 5. Modi will be in Israel on July 5 and 6. The planners of the event have opened registration, targeting in particular around 75,000 Jews who migrated from India, particularly from Mumbai and the northeast, and settled in Israel.

India's small community of Jews is hoping that this visit will lead to them being granted a minority status in India. Some 6,000 Indian Jews live in the country, which has been home to the community for the past 2,000 years. Jews are spread across West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat and Delhi. Even though they admit that they never faced any form of discrimination in India, a minority status will augment their position and make minority welfare schemes available to them.

Ezekiel Markel, priest at the Judah Hyam Synagogue in Delhi, says that in Maharashtra, Jews have been recognised as a minority. But at the national level, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians and Jains are the only notified minorities.

MAKING NEWS

• Israel’s largest English daily has reserved a section on its website for news reports focused only on Modi’s visit.
   
• Another daily is debating that India is the biggest opportunity in the world and Israel is missing it.