Author: India Writes Network

The campaign slogans showed a stark divide. Likud’s “It’s us or them” and Zionist Union’s “It’s us or him”, made the campaign personal and, as several media outlets called it, a referendum on Netanyahu’s leadership. He has been in power since 2009, and the economy worsened and the peace process stalled. However, Bibi’s last-minute acrimonious campaign for right wing votes seems to have paid off.
By these elections, Israelis have shown that homeland security remains central. The peace process seems to be stalled yet again. Soon after the election results, PA official Erekat said that in light of Mr Netanyahu’s statements, it was clear that “there is no partner on the Israeli side”.
For India, the election results mean business as usual. The bilateral relations have been on an upsurge since the NDA government took over, which looks forward to buttressing ties on homeland security, defence (Israel is the third largest arms supplier) and agriculture. Israel has a robust high-technology agriculture research and implementation programme, especially suited to dry land agriculture (majority of Indian agriculture remains drought/ desertification prone). Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited Israel last year after the warm exchanges between Mr Netanyahu and Mr Modi on sidelines of the UNGA meet in Washington last year.