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For India and China, the Cold War Is Over and They Have Billions of People to Feed

(Ha'aretz) David Rosenberg - Anyone trying to fathom the new, high-profile friendship between Israel and India should look to China, with which Israel is also enjoying warming ties. Both India and China were hostile toward Israel during the Cold War era. They took up the Palestinian cause as part of their fight against Western dominance. With the collapse of the communist bloc, both established relations with Israel in 1992, but deeper ties only came later, based on Israel's proven capabilities in defense technology. More recently, Israeli prowess in civilian technology has come to the fore as India and China focus on economic development and feeding their populations. At the same time, the Palestinians' status as the cause celebre of the Middle East has declined in the wake of the Arab Spring. The Arab world is preoccupied with the struggle with Islamic State and other domestic threats. Meanwhile, record low prices for oil play into the hands of oil importers like India and China, who know their suppliers can't be choosy about their customers' politics. Prime Minister Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, strongly identified with Hindu nationalism, is less concerned about pushback from the country's 180 million Muslim minority arising from warmer relations with Israel. Modi first visited Israel in 2006. BJP leaders look to Israel's successes in overcoming its enemies and its lack of natural resources as a model.
2017-07-05 00:00:00
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