How Gaza war sped up India's shift towards Israel under Modi
India's deepening ties with Israel have come into sharper focus after a September 2025 visit by Israel's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who was welcomed in New Delhi with garlands and taken on a multi-city trip. During the visit, he signed a trade deal in the Indian capital, visited the stock exchange in Mumbai and travelled to Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The trip took place while Israel was carrying out its war in Gaza, and it highlighted how far New Delhi has moved from its earlier position as one of the world's staunchest supporters of Palestine.
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The visit came as several Western governments had already moved to restrict Smotrich's entry, citing his support for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza and annexation of the occupied West Bank. The European Union was also preparing bloc-wide sanctions against him and fellow far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir later that month. Against that backdrop, the reception in India stood out as a sign of political and commercial openness at a time when Israel's traditional allies were distancing themselves from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
Analysts cited in the report said the optics suggested the Gaza war had accelerated India's embrace of Israel. The report said Modi visited Israel in February this year, even as Netanyahu faced growing international isolation and an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Gaza. In Jerusalem, Netanyahu told Modi: "You are a great friend of Israel.
You are more than a friend. You are a brother." The article also said three years of Israeli attacks have killed at least 74,000 Palestinians, including at least 21,000 children, a toll it described as about one in every 30 people, or 3% of the pre-war population. Those figures underline the scale of the conflict that has shaped diplomatic choices far beyond the region.
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The significance of India's position lies in the contrast with its historical stance. For decades, New Delhi argued that diplomacy and dialogue were the way forward in conflicts including those involving Israel and Palestine, Russia and Ukraine, and the United States and Iran. Since 2014, however, the report says India's position has shifted firmly under Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Gaza war appears to have intensified that shift, even as many governments that once backed Israel have become more critical of Netanyahu's administration. The article places this change in the context of broader international realignment. It says the United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Norway had already banned Smotrich's entry before his India trip.
It also notes that the European Union was moving toward sanctions on him and Ben-Gvir, reflecting growing discomfort with Israel's far-right leadership. India's willingness to host Smotrich, by contrast, suggests a calculation that economic and strategic ties with Israel now outweigh the diplomatic costs of appearing out of step with some of its traditional partners. The report also points to the practical dimensions of the relationship.
Smotrich's meetings in New Delhi and Mumbai, along with his stop in Gujarat, were presented as part of a broader effort to expand business with Israel. The trade deal signed in New Delhi was one of the clearest signs that the relationship is not only political but also commercial. For India, the engagement fits a pattern of closer cooperation with Israel in recent years, even as the war in Gaza has made that partnership more controversial internationally.
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What remains unclear is how far India is prepared to go in deepening that alignment if pressure grows over the war in Gaza and the conduct of Israel's government. The report does not say whether New Delhi plans any change in policy, and it does not provide details on the trade deal beyond its signing. What to watch next is whether India continues to expand high-level engagement with Israeli ministers and whether that approach affects its standing with countries that have become more critical of Netanyahu.
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