Growing India-Israel Relations

Recently, the Mumbai Police Commissioner D. Sivanandan along with his colleagues visited Israel and has returned. We raised objections to his going to Israel. More so, we have intense objection to the statement that he has issued on his return from Israel. But wait. Before commenting on his statement, listen to the story of the Mumbai Police team that visited Israel. After the 26 November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks by the Pakistani terrorists, the fact that relations between Israel and India have become very strong has become clear.

In view of the attack on Colaba's Jewish Center (Nariman House), some Israeli police officers had come to Mumbai and helped the local police in their investigations in their own way. It is but natural that the relations that were established during the investigations have grown stronger by the Mumbai Police tour.

Mumbai Police Visit to Israel
The plan for the trip was made about two months ago at the instance of the Central Government, which instructed the Maharashtra Home Department. The Central and State Governments want to achieve two goals with this move. First, the aim was to improve the security situation of the Indian cities and get the latest security equipment for the Indian police.

The plans for visiting countries made by the Home Ministry included the United States, the United Kingdom, and many cities in Europe, both large and small, China, South Africa, and Israel. Israel was the first country chosen for the tour. Apart from Sivsanandan, the visiting team included Maharashtra Additional Chief Secretary Chandra Iyengar and other high-ranking officers, P.K. Jain and Nisar Tamboli.

Before the two-tier team left for Israel, it was announced by the Government that the aim of the mission was to make it impossible for another 26/11-like terror attacks to occur again. The team will ask for cooperation from Israel on ways to prevent terrorist attacks. India believes Israel has vast knowledge and expertise of tackling terrorism, i.e., Israel is an expert in tackling terrorism.

Sivanandan, who returned to India before the tour was finished, and his colleagues took part in a seminar in Tel Aviv whose topic was "safe cities." The organizer of the seminar was the Israel Export Institute. This is the institute that has focused its full attention on India-Pakistan trade relations. This institute gathers important knowledge on security for companies who make security equipment and also does fieldwork for them.

Improving Security Situation
The Mumbai Police Commissioner has returned to India. He will sit together with other members of his team and prepare and submit a report about their trip to Israel to the Maharashtra Chief Minister, home minister, and other Government officers. But even before submitting his report, Sivanandan has shown the direction of his thinking and given us a good idea of the kind of suggestions he will give. He said, "The Mumbai Police will adopt security methods of the Israeli police that are worth emulating. We have studied it and will be presenting suggestions in our report."

This means that the Mumbai Police team will be operating in a similar manner. Sivanandan also said that his six-member team met the Israeli local police and secret agency officials. They will study the Israeli antiterrorist methods and how to retaliate against terrorists with force, and how to gather information. These methods are definitely worth learning. Is it true that the Israeli police methods are worth following and is it true that if the Mumbai Police followed their methods, they would be able to control and eliminate terrorism. These are the two questions that we have. The Israeli police, Israel Defense Force (IDF), and its secret service Mossad are infamous for human right violations against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Only recently, the breakup by force of a meeting of the Israeli Arabs has come to light. The Amnesty International in its separate annual report has mentioned human rights violations by the IDF. The Palestinian demonstrators were detained in thousands. Apart from this, there are many preventive detentions.

According to the Amnesty International, no charges are framed against them, nor are they allowed to appeal against their arrest in any court of law. Humiliating the arrested is an important weapon in the IDF arsenal. Those who are arrested are kept in detention for 90 days in humiliating conditions and without being allowed to meet visitors. There are examples of Ghalas and Nadal. When Nadal was released from the Israeli detention, he said that when he was arrested, the IDF and GSS tortured him badly in his village for four hours. Then they took him to the police station. He said that officers stuffed stones in his mouth and threw water on his face and head. They kicked him in his private parts with feet and fists. His head was bashed against a car's steering wheel.

Like Nadal, countless Palestinians go through such humiliation at hands of the Israelis. Countless Palestinians have been thrown behind bars on trumped-up charges. Political prisoners can be counted in thousands and are given extremely long sentences. Take the example of the Israeli Mordechai Vanunu. He was imprisoned for 18 years because he revealed the secrets of the Israeli nuclear plans.

Mumbai Police vs IDF
In comparison to the Israeli police, the IDF role is more repulsive. The IDF was formed in 1948 and contains all those organizations that worked against the Palestinians and Arabs during the British mandate. One of its terrorists, Ari'el Sharon, became the Israeli prime minister. He is the culprit of the shameful Deir Yassin Village killings.

So this is the brief history of the Israeli secret service and the IDF. Both contain former members of terrorist organizations who continue to commit human rights violations. Is the Mumbai Police commissioner impressed by this method of working? And is he going to adopt these policies of arresting citizens, without assigning any reason, humiliating them, and letting them rot in prison for indefinite periods? This is an account of the Israeli police character.

Now, let us turn our attention to the secret services. We shall only mention the Mossad. The collaboration between the Israeli police and the events in Malegaon is very obvious. This is not a mere game, but a reality. From the confessions of Sadhvi Pragya and Swami Dayanand Pandey, the connection between the Hindu terrorism and Mossad is very obvious. Then, why the meeting with Mossad? The record of the Israeli police and the IDF is not very clean. It is because of their cruelties that the Israelis are victims of terrorism. The Palestinians and Israelis are living in the shadow of fear even today. We cannot say that the Israeli cities are very safe.

Compared to the Israeli police, the Mumbai Police record is far better. It has wider experience. The Mumbai Police was established in 1661, while the Israeli police was formed in 1948. There is a big difference in the experiences of the two. There is no need for the Mumbai Police to adopt the methods of the Israeli police and the IDF.

Agreements and Understanding
What can Sivanandan do about this? The Congress Government has made relations with Israel its first priority. It was the Congress of Narasimha Rao that had a year before the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992, established relations with Israel in 1991. Today these relations are very strong and India has foregone relations with the Palestinians. The Congress continues to strengthen relations with Israel, ignoring Muslims and particularly the Indian Muslims.

After 1992, India and Israel signed agreements on military intelligence. Air agreements also were signed In addition to agreements in the field of science and technology. A killer-like Sharon was welcomed in India and no one knows what further agreements will come up between the countries, but to adopt the ways of the IDF and the Israeli police is the most shameful of all because their methods are cruel and not in favor of human rights.