India is a major partner for us, says Israel envoy Naor Gilon

Israel’s Ambassador to India Naor Gilon has termed India as a "major partner" even as he hoped for an early prime ministerial visit post the elections.

Israel will witness elections on November 11 to elect the members of parliament, Knesset. The poll results will be declared on November 9.

Speaking to WION’s diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal, Gilon said, "India is a major partner for us, a very close friend and an ally. We do a lot together and I believe, since we do a lot together, a visit from a PM is a missing element in the relationship".

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Ahead of the national elections in the west Asian country, Israeli missions globally and in Delhi participated in the polls. Many Israeli diplomats, including ambassador Gilon, his wife and daughter voted at the embassy on Thursday. More than 4,500 diplomats and their families from around 100 Israeli missions across voted to elect Knesset MPs.

The November elections take place after a political deadlock that lasted for four terms beginning in April 2019. But that hasn't stopped the bilateral or multilateral ties progressing, with I2U2 or west Asian quad between India, US, Israel and UAE due to take place meeting and announcing a slew of projects on food security, and renewable energy.

WION: If you can brief us about the elections in Israel, how big is the process?

Naor Gilon: We are a country of about 10 million people eligible to vote, citizens above the age of 18, and permanent residents about 6.7 million people. We are voting (at the Israel embassy) about 10 days before the general elections, so that our ballots can be counted along with the general population on the 1st of November when they vote. For the ministry of foreign affairs, we have over 100 representations and ballots, every embassy and consulate have a ballot. This includes 3 in India, one here in Delhi and 2 in Bangalore and Mumbai. In general, abroad, not all Israeli citizens are allowed to vote, Israeli citizens who are representatives of the govt, spouses, and children up to a certain age.

WION: What are the measures that have been put in place for voting in Israel embassies across the world, and have you voted?

Naor Gilon: Yes, of course, I have voted, my wife has voted and my daughter for the first time in life, because she turned 18 a few months ago. We all voted this morning. Same measures across the world, you get the ballot box, you get the list of entitled people, you get authorization, and each person has to get their own authorisation, even though we know the people, you must bring the identity card. We live together, we know each other but the law requires you to do that, and that is it. Immediately after the elections, all the ballots will be sent by diplomatic post back to Israel. We are voting here abroad in double envelopes so that nobody is voting twice.

WION: Israel saw political instability and now the democratic processes, but democracy is a link between India and Israel. Your view on the shared value and political system?

Naor Gilon: I don't like to speak about instability, especially political instability in Israel. I would like to speak about a very vibrant democracy. It is so vibrant that we have voted five times in the last three years already. The system is like that and when the public is split into two groups, either one group or another, the difference between them is relatively small. I think the main similarity between India and Israel in the political system is that we are both very heterogeneous societies. 20 per cent or more of the voters are Muslim Israelis or Arab Israelis you can call, they vote, some of them vote for general parties, and they have their own party. We have ministers from the minority group, and the last coalition, of the party was a Muslim party. You have Muslims, Christians, orthodox, no orthodox, newcomers, and immigrants, so it's a very heterogeneous group, very much like India.

WION: India and Israel are celebrating 30 years of ties, so once the new govt takes charge, what are we looking forward to? Can we expect a Prime Ministerial visit from Israel to India?

Naor Gilon: The wish for a visit, the need for a visit is even stronger there but first of all we need to have a government. This is a process that might take 6-7 weeks in Israel, once we have a govt, we have a Prime Minister. Hopefully it will happen, we have stability and not re-election. We will put very high on the agenda, the need to visit India. India is a major partner for us, a very close friend and ally. We do a lot together and I believe, since we do a lot together, a visit from a PM is a missing element in the relationship. Not everything depends on that, it's part of the issue, especially now when we are celebrating 30 years of diplomatic relations, 75 years of Independence of India and Israel will celebrate 75 years of Independence because we were established a few months apart. I think there is a need since the relationship is so good, and I hope the next PM will accept that and do it relatively early in the term.

WION: I2U2 is a group that has taken off, what is the update in terms of the initiative, especially on the agriculture front?

Naor Gilon: Last time a semi-hybrid summit took place was when the US was visiting Israel and PM Modi also joined virtually. They announced 2 major projects, one in the clean energy field building a very big project, and another in agriculture, farms, and food security, these are projects for cooperation in a big way between the 4 countries. In New York, during the general assembly, another meeting of Sherpas of the group discussed the ongoing projects, implementation, and potential projects that the group can take up. Big projects, involving the 4 countries, companies have something in infrastructure that helps the countries and the world become a better place.