Editor’s Pick

JEWS IN THE CITY OF JERUSALEM crowd onto a British Army vehicle on the morning of 30 November 1947, celebrating the fact that, the previous day, the United Nations had passed a plan to partition the territory of Palestine into independent Arab and Jewish states. This was viewed as a victory by Zionists—Jewish nationalists—and led to the creation of the state of Israel. The UN plan also stipulated the withdrawal from Palestine of the British, who had ruled the territory since the early 1920s. Among the members of the UN at the time, 33 voted in favour of the plan, 13 voted against it and ten abstained.

Newly independent India was one of the 13 countries to vote against the partitioning. In 1949, India opposed Israel’s admission to the United Nations—though it was similarly outnumbered in that vote. India formally recognised Israel the following year. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, in a letter to India’s chief ministers that year, wrote that his government had initially refrained from recognising Israel “because of our desire not to offend the sentiments of our friends in the Arab countries.” Theorists have put forward many other explanations for India’s early stance, including its anti-colonial solidarity with Palestinians, its desire to appease its own Muslim population and its role as a leader of the non-aligned movement during the Cold War.

Almost 50 years hence, India’s relations with Israel have become much cosier. The countries established formal diplomatic relations in 1992, and India is currently the largest purchaser of Israeli arms. Soon, Narendra Modi is expected to become the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel.