Benjamin Netanyahu has made a spectacular return to the power corridors of Jerusalem. With 32 members in the Knesset, ‘The King of Israel,’ as his ardent followers refer to him, led his Likud Party to victory. The Netanyahu-led right religious coalition holds 64 members in the 120-member Knesset with his supporters.
Netanyahu has been in opposition for the past 17 months while facing three corruption trials. During his absence from government, there was only a minor deviation from the previously established cooperation machinery between India and Israel.
The voting took place on Tuesday amid escalating violence in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. According to an AFP tally, at least 34 Palestinians and three Israelis have been slain in the territories since the beginning of October. An assailant stabbed an Israeli officer in Jerusalem’s Old City before being shot dead, according to authorities.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, three Palestinians, including an accused Islamist militant commander, were killed in clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank, one near Jerusalem and two during an Israeli operation in the flashpoint city of the Jenin.
While many contenders expressed worry about security, none promised to restart stalled peace talks with the Palestinians. The expected results, according to Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, reflect “increasing extremism and racism in Israeli society.”
The rift among Arab parties, which ran as three separate groupings instead of the unified list that helped them gain a record number of seats in March 2020, was considered a crucial factor bolstering Netanyahu. Separately, not all factions met the threshold for participation in parliament, implying that their votes were squandered.
Sami Abou Shahadeh, the leader of the Balad party, which opposes any cooperation with Israeli governments, justified his party’s choice to run independently, despite the fact that it was poised to be barred from entering parliament.
Experts contacted by sources noted a convergence of interests between India and Israel, which is expected to boost bilateral cooperation between the two during Netanyahu’s forthcoming tenure as Prime Minister of Jerusalem.
The I2U2 grouping, originally known as the International Forum for Economic Cooperation, held its first-ever summit virtually in July 2022. Its joint statement reaffirmed support for the Abraham accords and committed $2.33 billion to India-centric initiatives on food security and renewable energy.
This includes a $330 million hybrid renewable energy project in India’s Gujarat state, as well as a $2 billion investment to create a chain of food parks across the country.
India and Israel inked a bilateral agreement for innovation in dual-use technologies in November 2021. Prior to that, the MoU, with each side contributing US$20 million over five years (2018-2023), has continued to stimulate collaborative India-Israel R&D projects.
In 2021-22, overall commerce between the two nations was $7.86 billion. According to experts, the convergence of mutual interests between India and Israel is very substantial. Defense, trade, education, tourism, and diaspora relations are all examples.
Also Read : Pegatron to assemble iPhone 14 at Chennai as part of ‘Make In India’ program
213 total views, 1 views today