Netanyahu's India 'Crazy Love' Remarks Signal Deeper Ties

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a West Bank conference on Thursday that India's public support for Israel is unmatched globally. “In India, there is an absolutely crazy love for Israel, truly crazy. I think I have more followers from India than from anywhere else,” he said. The remark is not diplomatic hyperbole – it reflects a relationship that has produced concrete agreements on defence, technology, and digital payments, with direct implications for Indian companies exposed to Israel-linked revenue streams.

The statement arrives months after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Jerusalem in February 2026, when both governments upgraded ties to a “Special Strategic Partnership for Peace, Innovation and Prosperity.” That summit yielded formal pacts covering artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, education, agriculture, fisheries, fintech, and trade, plus a plan to explore linking India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with Israel’s fast payment system.

The India-Israel Relationship as a Market Factor

Netanyahu’s decision to highlight Indian sentiment at a conference in the West Bank underscores how central India has become to Israel’s diplomatic positioning as it faces delegitimisation across much of the world. For markets, the risk event is not the statement itself. It is what the trajectory of bilateral cooperation tells investors about exposure. A deepening relationship means greater exposure for Indian firms in three specific sectors.

Defence Cooperation: The Pipeline Risk

The February summit built on a Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation signed in November 2025. Both sides agreed to strengthen ties through initiatives coordinated by National Security Advisors in critical and emerging technologies. For Indian defence contractors – companies producing systems that Israel co-develops or sources from India – this creates a long-term pipeline of orders and joint-development revenue. The risk is that India’s public alignment with Israel could strain relations with other Middle Eastern partners, potentially complicating energy imports or regional trade routes. Any shift in Indian public opinion or a geopolitical flashpoint could derail these defence programmes.

Technology and AI: NSA-Level Oversight

Both governments identified artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, semiconductors, and biotechnology as central to national competitiveness. The agreements place the most sensitive areas of technological partnership under NSA-level coordination rather than commercial arrangements alone. That reduces execution risk for government-backed projects. It also adds layers of political oversight that can slow commercial scale-up. Companies with existing ties to Israeli tech firms – such as Indian IT services or semiconductor design houses – could see preferential access to co-development contracts. The risk is that technology transfers face export-control scrutiny from third countries (for example, the US) if Israel’s international standing deteriorates further.