New Delhi, India

Benjamin Netanyahu has made a stunning comeback to Jerusalem's power corridors. 'The King of Israel', as his loyal supporters call him, led his Likud Party to become the largest political group in the Knesset with 32 seats. Together with his allies, the Netanyahu-led right religious bloc has 64 seats in the 120-member Knesset.

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Netanyahu spent the last 17 months before his re-election in the opposition while facing three corruption trials. During his time out of office, there was a minimal deviation from the already established cooperation apparatus between India and Israel.

Experts that WION reached out to, pointed out the convergence of interests between India and Israel that is expected to fuel the bilateral cooperation during Netanyahu's upcoming tenure in Jerusalem's Prime Minister's Office.

WATCH | Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu forms new coalition government

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"This convergence of interests meant that when Israel’s foreign policy orientation vis-à-vis its Arab neighbours was undergoing transformation, it found a partner like India to establish regional mechanisms such as I2U2 and tackle challenges of food security and climate change," says Sameer Patil, Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation.

Netanyahu and the state of I2U2 or 'West Asia Quad'

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"With Netanyahu's re-election as Israel's Prime Minister, the I2U2 quadrilateral will get a further boost," says Sifra Lentin, Fellow, Bombay History Studies at Mumbai-based Gateway House, referring to the crucial multilateral group with geopolitical implications, consisting of India, Israel, the United States and United Arab Emirates (I2U2).

Initially called the International Forum for Economic Cooperation, the I2U2 grouping held its first summit virtually in July 2022. Its joint statement reaffirmed the support for the Abraham accords and pledged India-centric investments worth $2.33 billion in the areas of food security and clean energy. This includes 300 megawatts hybrid renewable energy project in India's Gujarat state with an estimated cost of $330 million as well as $2 billion-worth investments to develop a series of food parks across India.

"We need to look forward to India and Israel as partners in a multilateral like I2U2 where we have other good friends like the UAE and the United States. India also has excellent relations with all the signatories of the Abraham Accords," adds Sifra Lentin, referring to the accords of normalised diplomatic ties of Israel with Bahrain and UAE, respectively. 

Cooperation in developing startups

In November 2021, India and Israel signed a bilateral agreement for innovation in dual-use technologies. A prior MoU with a contribution of US$20 million from each side over five years (2018-2023) continues to fuel joint India-Israel Research and Development projects. 

The total trade between the two countries stood at $7.86 billion in 2021-22. 

Experts say that the convergence of mutual interests between India and Israel is 'very strong'. Be it defence, trade, education, tourism, or diaspora relations. 

India-Israel relations: Modi-Bibi at helm create 'certain magic'

Experts say that one must not forget that there was an acceleration in Indo-Israel engagements when Modi and Netanyahu were at the helm of their respective national capitals. At the same time, the scale of ambition brought about by the two leaders must get its due credit.

"What Netanyahu should get credit for is the ambition that he brought to the bilateral relationship. In Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Netanyahu got a like-minded ambitious counterpart. As a result, both sides explored newer areas for collaboration such as emerging technologies, while strengthening the existing partnership in sectors like defence," ORF's Sameer Patil told WION.

"The tenor of the bilateral relations has been the same even under his successors but, yes, there is a certain magic with Modi-Bibi at the helm," Sifra Lentin told WION. 

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