Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Benjamin Netanyahu has said in an interview that he is working to build new relationships with countries beyond the United States (US) and named India as a key partner in the effort.
Netanyahu told Israeli journalist Sharon Gal in an interview that Tel Aviv has been actively working to forge new alliances with various world powers.
“You have to build new alliances and develop new relationships. That’s what I’m doing right now with India,” he said.
The remarks come amid an apparent strain in ties between Israel and US over the Trump administration’s approach to the war against Iran and the genocide in Lebanon.
This is not the first time Netanyahu has pointed to India while pushing back against claims of Israel’s international isolation. US Vice President JD Vance had warned the Israeli administration over its diplomatic stance, saying: “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”
Responding to Vance’s remarks in an interview with an international media outlet, Netanyahu maintained that while he respects the US Vice President, the two do not share identical views on every matter. He then pointed to other global partnerships to push back against the idea that Israel lacks major allies.
“We have some other friends, like a small country called India. You know, it has 1.4 billion people and boy, do we have tremendous support there. You know, I have this Facebook thing and I’m just flooded by the overwhelming support there,” Netanyahu said.
He added that numerous global leaders routinely contact him to seek collaboration on military strategy, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, though he offered no proof to support this claim.
