Israel’s new Ambassador Naor Gilon addresses the media in New Delhi on Thursday, October 28, 2021.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Israel on February 22 defended its ties with the crisis-hit Adani Group as its Ambassador declared that the conglomerate has “paid in full” for the Haifa port that it took over last month and that it is negotiating for more Israeli projects.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi to mark three decades of Indo-Israel formal diplomatic ties, Israeli envoy Naor Gilon pointed out “challenges” with the Make in India initiative and argued that recent erosion of bipartisan political support in India has not dented bilateral relation as Israel remains “popular” among the people of India.
Opinion | Warning bells: On the Adani saga
“The Adani Group paid in full the cost of the Haifa port. The port has money for development. Port infrastructure is an important part of Adani Group. It is in the interest of both Adani and Israel. Everyone wants this port to work well. It is a strategic asset and will be useful for India. Adani Group is looking for more projects in Israel and I hope they get it,” said Mr. Gilon expressing support for the decision of the Israeli government to go ahead with handing over the port of Haifa to Adani Group during the month when it experienced a massive stock market rout.
Adani’s $1.2 billion investment in Haifa was the biggest ever infrastructure investment by an Indian corporate house in Israel which has established itself as one of the leading partners of India in the field of security and defence over the past three decades after the end of the Cold War. The envoy emphasised that the strong political relation between Tel Aviv and New Delhi is supported by warm personal ties between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and PM Narendra Modi.
The Haifa port deal for the Adani Group also coincided with heated political rhetoric here with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying that billionaire businessman Gautam Adani got defence contracts in Israel because of his alleged closeness to PM Modi. The Opposition, both inside and outside the Parliament, has been raising the issue of reported surveillance of critics of the government through Israeli Pegasus software, apart from the Haifa port deal of Adani, whose shares tumbled further in the market on Wednesday.
In a speech in the Lok Sabha on February 7, Mr. Gandhi had alleged that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Adani Defence & Aerospace and Israeli drone maker Elbit was linked to the 2017 visit of PM Modi to Israel. “Adani never made drones. HAL and other companies did. Despite that PM Modi goes to Israel, Adani gets the contract,” he had said. Mr. Gilon however argued that Israel’s government does not “push” joint ventures between private companies. “We have joint ventures with 80 Indian companies which include Tata, Bell, Kalyani etc. To discuss one company — I don’t see the issue here. Joint ventures are private,” said Mr. Gilon.
Wednesday’s hour-long interaction between the Israeli envoy and the Indian media came in the backdrop of multiple events that the two sides had planned to celebrate three decades of formal diplomatic relation that began during the tenure of Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. Mr. Gandhi’s comments in the Parliament indicated a rare discontinuity in bipartisan goodwill Israel enjoyed here since 1992.
Mr. Gilon however stated that relation with Delhi has become “very good” in recent years as compared to the days of “bipartisanship” when ties had not expanded to the current level, adding, “Thirty years ago, we started on defence. Today it has spread across defence, agriculture and other sectors. Our relation today is very good. Israel enjoys popular support in India. People in India have a fascination for Israel.”
Laying out Israel’s point of view regarding the Make in India initiative, he said the initiative has challenges and hinted at Israel’s difficulties in coming to terms with the initiative that requires foreign companies to manufacture locally in India. He further highlighted the Israel, UAE, India trilateral and the India, Israel, UAE, USA partnership — I2U2 — as forums that will see greater opportunities in the field of agriculture and technology. He also informed that both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen are expected to visit India soon.
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