How the Gaza Conflict Accelerated India's Strategic Alignment with Israel Under Modi

While nations like the United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Norway banned the entry of Bezalel Smotrich—Israel’s far-right finance minister who advocated for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza and the annexation of the West Bank—India welcomed him in September 2025. During his multi-city tour, Smotrich signed a trade deal in New Delhi, visited the stock exchange in Mumbai, and toured a new investment hub in Gujarat, the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Despite Israel's military campaign in Gaza, New Delhi moved forward with expanding business ties.

For decades, India was a steadfast supporter of Palestine, while Europe backed Israel. However, India's stance shifted significantly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014. Analysts note that Smotrich's visit highlighted a dramatic change: even as traditional European allies distance themselves from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration, the war on Gaza has seemingly deepened India's partnership with Israel. In February, Modi visited Israel to meet Netanyahu, who faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes and growing international isolation.

Historically, India advocated for diplomacy and dialogue to resolve global conflicts, maintaining that war solves nothing. Yet, investigations have revealed that India exported weapons to Israel during the conflict, and under Modi, India has become Israel's largest arms buyer. Following the October 7, 2023, attack led by Hamas, Modi immediately condemned the action and expressed deep shock. During his visit, Modi drew parallels to the 2008 Mumbai attacks carried out by Pakistani fighters, emphasizing a shared zero-tolerance policy toward terrorism.

Political analyst Rasheed Kidwai suggests that framing Israel as a nation under attack helps justify Modi's closer ties, aligning with the Bharatiya Janata Party's domestic focus on Islamist expansionism and security. The Hindu right in India has historically sympathized with Zionism, viewing Hindutva's goal of transforming India into a Hindu homeland as conceptually similar to Israel's identity as a Jewish state. Former diplomat Navdeep Suri noted that this diplomatic shift predates the current conflict, moving what was once a largely covert relationship into the open, driven by strong defense and intelligence cooperation.

While European nations and Canada have implemented trade measures against illegal Israeli settlements and sanctioned figures like Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, India has largely limited its response to calls for peace and a two-state solution. Suri remarked that India displays a reluctance to criticize Israeli actions due to close political alignments between the two governments. Analysts argue that Modi's Hindu-first political strategy finds no domestic benefit in maintaining a pro-Palestine posture, making the alignment with Israel a consistent part of the current administration's foreign and domestic calculus.