NEW DELHI: Israel can learn from India the use of soft power to win the war of narratives in times of conflict, Israeli ambassador to India Reuven Azar said during an interaction with TOI editors. As Israel has pressed on with its military offensive to destroy Hamas, there’s been a wave of support for Palestinians in Gaza. Azar said Israel, as the only Jewish state in the region, was outnumbered in geopolitical composition.
“We are the one and only Jewish state. You have very powerful media outlets that are investing billions of dollars like Al Jazeera, TRT, and many other outlets. Frankly, we haven’t been investing enough because most of our investment went to hard power, not to soft power. You have been combining hard and soft power in the way that you have been challenging these groups,” he said.
As India looks to keep its relations with both Israel and Palestine on an even keel, calling repeatedly for a ceasefire in Gaza but also strongly backing Israel’s right to defend itself from terrorism, Azar said the Indian govt has been supportive of Israel’s “core national interests”. Acknowledging the differences between the two sides on issues like India’s continued aid to UNRWA, an agency banned by Israel, and India’s voting on UNGA resolutions concerning Palestine, the ambassador said Israel shares friendly ties with India and it will continue to engage with the Indian govt on these issues.
On India
“I’m not in the business of giving grades to our friends. I think that when it comes to our core national interests, India has been pretty cooperative. Of course, we would like to see many countries, including India, changing their voting pattern. And I told our Indian friends that when it comes to UNRWA, we prefer that they divert their assistance to the needy people through other channels. So, this is a conversation we’re having and we are going to continue to engage. At the end of the day, this is a very friendly relationship and we have to continue having the discussion,” Azar said.
Like last year, India released $5 million for UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees in Near East). The govt also informed Parliament last week that it voted in favour of 10 out of the 13 resolutions that were introduced in the UNGA since the conflict began, and abstained on 3.
Gaza Ceasefire
Azar suggested there might be some progress in negotiations for a hostage deal. The ambassador said Israel’s agenda in Gaza is to destroy the military capabilities of Hamas and ensure that the group is not able to rearm itself.
“For that, you need a new order in the Gaza Strip. So, that’s what we are trying to achieve. To engage, to continue decimating Hamas, to engage with partners that want to work with us to restore peace. And that may take time. We want to see the release of hostages in batches at least. The PM (Benjamin Netanyahu) just met the families of the hostages and said he feels that time is ripe for a hostage deal. It seems there might be some progress in negotiations…. The bottom line is that we won’t allow Hamas the possibility that in return of hostages, they will be able to take back control of the Gaza Strip.”
Two-State Solution
While India and most other countries have repeatedly called for a two-state solution, Israeli Parliament Knesset voted overwhelmingly earlier this year in favour of a resolution rejecting Palestinian statehood. The ambassador said Israel wants the Palestinians to rule themselves to the extent that they can without threatening Israel.
“It means that as long as you have a population that is bound to try and destroy you, you won’t be able to give them full sovereignty because they will use that in order to destroy you. We tried it with the Gaza Strip. Look what happened. For 17 years, we gave a chance. And then Hamas indoctrinated their people from the age of two or three just to kill Jews. They completely took hostage all their activities just to create this capability to destroy the state of Israel. So, we have to be realistic about the degree of self-rule that Palestinians can have, unless a new generation comes that thinks differently.”
On Syria
Speaking about the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and its potential to further destabilise West Asia, Azar said there are three things about the geopolitical situation that are important now. “First is that the Iranian axis is debilitated as a result of the cutting of its three tentacles (Hezbollah, Hamas and Assad). The second is what’s going to happen with Russian presence in eastern Mediterranean because this is shifting balance of power between Nato and Russia. And third, this was a meticulously planned attack by the Syrian opposition that was supported, sponsored by the Turkish govt. The question is to what extent they are going to be able to stabilise the Syria situation. Don’t forget that the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham comes from Jabhat al-Nusra, which was part of al-Qaida,” Azar said.
