It took only a few hours after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel for Hindu nationalists to begin using the conflict for their own benefit. "What Israel is facing today, India suffered between 2004-14. Never forgive, never forget," reads a message posted on X (formerly Twitter) by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It's accompanied by a shocking video featuring images of the Bombay attacks in which over 160 people were killed in 2008. This was a way for the BJP to establish a link with terrorist attacks perpetrated on Indian soil between 2004 and 2014, when the Indian National Congress, now in opposition, ruled the country.
Narendra Modi was also one of the first world leaders to react. The Hindu nationalist condemned the "terrorist attacks" and pledged India's "solidarity with Israel at this difficult time." His firm message, similar to those of many Westerners, nevertheless marks a break with India's traditional position in favor of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
The speed of India's reaction also testifies to the evolution of relations between New Delhi and Tel Aviv since the Hindu nationalists came to power in 2014. In the 1970s, India was the first non-Arab country to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the legitimate representative of Palestine, while it only established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1992.
In 2017, Modi became the first Indian head of government to visit Israel. The Hindu nationalist leader and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make no secret of their ideological closeness. For the BJP and its supporters, who want to turn secular, multicultural India into a Hindu nation, Israel represents a model religious nationalist state. While the ideologues of the Indian nationalist right have glorified Adolf Hitler, its supporters are no less fascinated by Israel's security doctrine.
It took several days for the Indian government to eventually add nuance to its initial position, but discreetly, through its Ministry of External Affairs. It reminded Israel of "the universal obligation to observe international humanitarian law" and reiterated its position on the Palestinian question. "Initially, the Indian position, usually more of a balancing act, was exclusively in support of Israel, and this opened the floodgates for a surge in the pro-BJP media and social media ecosystem," pointed out Nicolas Blarel, professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands and author of a book on the evolution of India's Israel policy.
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