A day after the visit of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the government has now turned its focus to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in July, with Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and a key BJP official leaving for Tel Aviv on Wednesday to plan his diaspora event.
“As this is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Israel, we will ensure it is unique and special,” Vijai Chauthaiwale, head of the BJP’s Foreign Policy Cell, told The Hindu before leaving for Israel. “The diaspora event is important to give all the Indians now in Israel a sense of identity and community.”
Online registration
On Wednesday, a website, israelwelcomemodi.org, inviting registrations for the July 5 event went live. Organisers say they expect at least 6,000-7,000 people to attend the event. The venue is yet to be finalised, but officials are inspecting a few options, including the Tel Aviv “fairgrounds” or convention centre. Israel is home to 80,000 people of Indian origin, mainly those who have taken “Aliyah,” as the migration of the Jewish diaspora to Israel is called. Among the groups which migrated in large numbers are the Bene-Israelis from Maharashtra, Cochin Jews, Baghdadi Jews from Kolkata, as well as some from the so-called “lost tribe” of B’nai-Menache from Manipur. Organisers of the PM’s event hope to attract hundreds of Indian nurses, mainly from Kerala, who work in Israeli hospitals and old-age facilities, and Indian students and a few diamond merchant families from the country.
“We are very excited, as the visit of the PM brings both Israel and India, our fatherland and motherland, closer together,” Yoel Sogaokar, an Indian community leader and owner of a restaurant, “Namaste Indian”, told The Hindu over the phone from the Israeli town of Ashdod. Mr. Sogaokar, who has applied to go to the event along with his wife, said every Indian-owned establishment was collecting names and identification details, while arrangements would be made to transport them to Tel Aviv.
Asked what he hoped Mr. Modi’s visit could achieve, he said the Indian community would like to see more streamlined processes for OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) cards and visas, and more direct flights between the two countries.
“Many people faced problems over demonetisation, and some will perhaps like to ask Mr. Modi about their old notes too,” he added on a lighter note.
PM’s itinerary
Indian and Israeli officials involved in the arrangements told The Hindu that PM Modi is expected to travel to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa during his visit from July 4 to 6. He is not, however, expected to visit the Palestinian territories as other leaders including President Pranab Mukherjee and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj did last year.
In Jerusalem, Mr. Modi will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In Haifa, he is expected to meet innovators and founders of technology companies and start-ups, and pay respects at the memorial to Indian soldiers who fought for the liberation of Haifa from the Ottoman Army during the First World War.
