‘Palestine issue doesn’t diminish India-Israel relations’

Ties between the two countries improving in agriculture, defence and cybersecurity, says Consul General Tammy Ben-Haim

The unresolved Palestine issue could be a factor in India-Israel relationship, but it does not diminish or negate the partnership between the two countries, Tammy Ben-Haim, Israel’s Consul General in Bangalore, said.

“The Palestine issue is still a factor. But I think it was definitely proven with the Abraham Accords that the Palestinian issue can be an issue, it can be an issue of disagreement, an issue of arguments, but it doesn’t diminish, or negate or take away the relationship. So it’s still an issue, but I don’t know where it is on the list from one to ten,” Ms. Ben-Haim said in an interaction with The Hindu.

Under the Abraham Accords, signed in 2020, Israel signed normalisation agreements with four Arab countries — the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

“It took a while for India and Israel to get the relationship going, to recognise both sides and establish full diplomatic relationship,” she said, adding that ties were now improving in different fields such as agriculture, defence and cybersecurity.

Regarding the allegations around Pegasus, the spyware manufactured by Israeli company NSO Group, Ms. Ben-Haim said: “It’s a private company. It’s not even a weapons company. But still they need to have approvals for exports. The government of Israel did set limits on its exports only to governments, for specific use, and specific reasons. So they do have to prove that they comply with the regulations. We are limiting them to selling to governments and governments are using it for specific reasons.”

On whether the NSO was required to monitor the end use of the spyware it exports, she said: “I am sure contracts were signed and stipulations were made. The main purpose of Pegasus is to fight terrorism...”

There were allegations that the weapons-grade spyware was used by governments to carry out surveillance on journalists, activists and even political rivals across several countries, including in India.