@SnoopDog wrote:
It's been revealed that the injured pilot of the FlyDubai plane, which was almost hijacked by the co-pilot, is an Indian national.
The Parallel Realms of Nationalism: The Ideological and Geopolitical Nexus of India and Israel
The intersection of contemporary Hindu nationalism (Hindutva) and Zionist statecraft represents a powerful alignment driven by shared ideological visions, perceived common adversaries, and strategic military pragmatism. What began as a series of theoretical observations by 20th-century ideologues has transformed into a robust, multi-layered alliance in the 21st century (Essa, 2023).
To understand this connection, one must look back to the foundational architecture of the Hindu nationalist movement. In the 1920s and 1930s, figures like Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the primary formulator of Hindutva, wrote admiringly of the Zionist movement. To Savarkar, the Jewish quest for a homeland was not a colonial enterprise, but a legitimate reclamation of an ancient civilizational and sacred geography (Mishra, 2019). This concept deeply mirrored the Hindutva aspiration to transform India from a pluralistic, secular republic into a Hindu Rashtra (a Hindu nation), a land where national identity, citizenship, and cultural belonging are explicitly tied to ancestral soil.
For modern Hindu nationalists, Israel functions as the ultimate blueprint of a muscular "ethnic democracy" (Jaffrelot, 2021). It is envisioned as a state that has successfully harmonized an intensely modernized, high-tech economy with a fiercely protective, ethnically grounded national identity. In the Hindutva imagination, Israel represents what India could be: a nation unburdened by the perceived constraints of minority appeasement, capable of exercising absolute sovereignty and overwhelming military deterrence. Recent legislative parallels, such as comparing Israel’s 2018 Nation-State Law to India’s 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), highlight this structural emulation of prioritizing a dominant cultural group (Wilson, 2022).
This ideological empathy is dramatically catalyzed by the perception of a shared adversary. Both movements have historically cultivated a collective memory of siege and survival. In the contemporary right-wing narrative in India, both nations are civilizational islands dealing with hostile Islamic forces. This framing collapses complex, historically distinct political struggles, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and India’s internal communal tensions and border disputes with Pakistan, into a singular, global civilizational war (Essa, 2023).
Nowhere is this convergence more visceral than in the digital landscape. During flashpoints of violence in the Middle East, global observers frequently note an influx of right-wing Indian social media accounts expressing unwavering solidarity with Israel. According to reports, this digital activism is rarely about the nuances of Middle Eastern geopolitics (The Diplomat, 2024). Instead, it serves as a proxy for internal Indian dynamics, where support for Israel becomes a vehicle for expressing domestic anti-Muslim sentiment and targeting pro-Palestinian voices (Mishra, 2019).
Yet, reducing this relationship entirely to ideological passion ignores the cold realism of state diplomacy. Historically, post-independence India championed the Palestinian cause and viewed Israel through the skeptical lens of anti-colonial non-alignment. Formal diplomatic ties were only established in 1992. However, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration, the relationship has deepened into a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Today, India is one of the world's largest importers of Israeli defense equipment, relying heavily on Israeli drone technology, missile systems, and surveillance software for its counter-insurgency and border operations (Essa, 2023). Conversely, Israeli defense firms view India as an indispensable market.
Ultimately, the nexus between Israel and Hindu nationalism illustrates how modern nationalism operates in a globalized world. Practical military dependence provides the scaffolding, while a shared ideological vision of cultural majoritarianism provides the emotional cement (Wilson, 2022). As India continues to shift away from its founding secular ethos toward a more muscular, culturally defined state, Israel remains its most potent muse, a living example of how a nation can combine high-tech global integration with an uncompromising, ethno-religious domestic order.
Bibliography list
Essa, A. (2023) Hostile Homelands: The New Alliance Between India and Israel. London: Pluto Press.
Jaffrelot, C. (2021) 'India under Modi Shares Similar Patterns with Israel in Their 'Ethnic Democracies'', European Center for Populism Studies.
Mishra, P. (2019) 'India & Israel: An Ideological Convergence', Palestine Festival of Literature.
The Diplomat (2024) 'Why is India’s Hindu Right Pro-Israel?', The Diplomat.
Wilson, A. (2022) Hindutva and its Relationship with Zionism. Montreal: Daraja Press.
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