Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump his “terrific friends”, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he would give Modi “some advice but privately” on how to deal with Trump.
At the same time, he said, “There is a basic understanding in the relationship between India and the US. The basis of the relationship is very solid. It will be in the interest of India and the US to arrive at a common ground and resolve the tariff issue. Such a resolution will be good for Israel as well as both countries are our friends.” His remarks came a day after Trump doubled the tariff on India, citing its purchase of Russian oil.
In an almost 45-minute interaction with a group of Indian journalists, Netanyahu disclosed that Israel supplied military equipment to India before Operation Sindoor and “all of them worked well”. He underlined that Israeli equipment used during Operation Sindoor were “battle proven”.
Calling for greater cooperation on intelligence sharing, countering terror and high-technology, he said he would like to “quickly wrap up mutual defence and economic agreements”.
And in significant remarks on the war in Gaza, Netanyahu said, “Our plan is not to occupy or annex Gaza. Our goal is to destroy Hamas and get our hostages back, and then hand over Gaza to a transitory government. It is clear that we will never hand it over to the Palestinian Authority or Hamas. We will provide overall security. There will be a security perimeter provided by us.”
“We want to end the war very soon. It will be over speedily. If Hamas concedes and lays down their arms and free the hostages, it will be over tomorrow. Even Palestinians in Gaza are fighting Hamas,” he said.
“We want to make Gaza a demilitarised zone. We are looking at ending the war very soon. We are focusing on winning the war. Israel believes Trump should get the Nobel Peace award for ending conflicts and for facilitating Abraham Accords,” he said.
On India-Israel defence cooperation, Netanyahu said, “Israel supplied military equipment to India before (Operation Sindoor). All of them worked well. Israeli equipment used during Operation Sindoor were battle proven. We don’t develop them in labs, but on the battlefield. So they are battle-tested. We have robust defence cooperation. It is on a pretty solid foundation.”
Asked about cross-border terrorism, he said, “It is a problem. India is a huge country and it is not easy to have surveillance all over. We are ready to help India on air surveillance systems. Besides intelligence, we need the physical capability to get the terrorists before they strike. You always have to be ahead of the curve. You don’t allow them to break you, you have to act before what is likely to come and is being hatched by them.”
On India’s ties with Israel, Netanyahu said, “Our relationship with India is very strong and I am saying this from my heart. We are seeking to seize the opportunity for the future.”
“Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, India’s so-called policy of neutrality has changed and India and Israel are witnessing great friendship,” he said.
He said the “IMEEC corridor (India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor) will open up new opportunities in the fast changing geopolitical situation. Israel is looking forward to implementation of the IMEEC and we are ready to cooperate in the project. It will be a corridor for future economic growth in the region. I am very optimistic about it.”
On reports and visuals of the food crisis in Gaza, for which he is facing immense criticism from the international community amid allegations of starvation, Netanyahu said, “We have supplied over 2 million tonnes of food. However, the supplies were interdicted. We let thousands of trucks carrying food go to Gaza. I decided to open up the transit routes for aid trucks. The problem has been with the distribution. Hamas caused the humanitarian crisis.”
“There are examples of children starving, which are fake. The hostages are facing starvation,” he said, referring to the remaining 50 people in captivity in Gaza.
On Iran, Netanyahu said, “We destroyed the nuclear threat and the threat of ballistic missiles. We achieved our aim. We overcame two lumps of cancer. As German Chancellor (Friedrich) Merz said Israel is doing the dirty work for the world. There has been an awakening in Iran against the current rulers. The possibility of internal feud and implosion is very much a possibility in Iran.”
“The axis of evil no longer exists, it has collapsed. Regime change in Iran could be one of the consequences. But it has to come from the Iranian people, they have to rise. But once you pierce the mantle invincibility, cracks appear,” he said.
On Israel-India bilateral ties, he said, “I would like to come to India soon. I miss India. There is huge scope for further expanding our cooperation including in areas such as intelligence sharing, countering terrorism and high-technology. We have developed a lot of technology in screening data and social networks. We are cooperating in this domain with India as well.”
“We would like to quickly wrap up mutual defence and economic agreements,” he said.
“We would like to open up the bureaucratic constraints for Indian workers and caregivers, they are beloved, they are part of our society and family,” he said.
“We would like to have direct flights between Tel Aviv and Bangalore, so that we can reach in 6 hours, that will be shorter than the flight to San Francisco,” he said.
— (The reporter is in Israel at the invitation of the Israeli embassy in New Delhi)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with India’s Ambassador to Israel J P Singh, in Jerusalem. (PTI) 
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