New Delhi: Speaking in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and a host of international delegates, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at “radical Islam and its terrorist options” from the podium of the Raisina Dialogue conference here on Tuesday evening, saying that the “challenge” can be overcome by strengthening India-Israeli ties. The Israeli PM also hailed the “India-Israel alliance”, saying that only the “strong survive”.
“Our way of life is being challenged, most notably the quest for modernity, the quest for innovation is being challenged by radical Islam and its terrorist options from a variety of corners. This can upset the international system. I think one of the ways to overcome such a challenge is to strengthen the relationship between our two great democracies. The alliance of democracies, I think, is important to secure our common future,” Mr Netanyahu said, as Mr Modi listened in the audience.
“The weak don’t survive. The strong survive. You make peace and alliances with the strong,” he said, adding: “We believe in India as you believe in Israel. May God bless the India-Israel alliance.” He further said: “We have discussed in the visit how we can strengthen our two nations in civilian areas, in security areas.”
Israel has had a turbulent relationship with the Islamic world for decades due to the Palestinian issue, but the reference to “radical Islam” may be calculated to strike a resonance among many in India, which is battling the terrorism of Pakistan-based terror outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.
Interestingly, however, while Israel considers Iran to be the epicentre of terrorism, India considers Pakistan as being so. Israel is also battling radical outfits and accuses Iran of backing these.
