This past Saturday, India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire after hostilities flared between the two countries in the wake of an attack by Islamic terrorists who murdered 26 Indians in cold blood on April 22.
India, the world’s largest democracy, once again found itself the target of terrorist elements nurtured across the border in Pakistan. This is not merely a regional skirmish. It is part of a global struggle between the free world and the forces of fanaticism.
As Israelis and as Jews, we should stand unequivocally with India in its battle against Islamic terrorism. Just as Israel has endured attacks from Hamas and other terrorist organizations for decades, India, too, has been repeatedly targeted by extremists operating with impunity thanks to its neighbor.
While the context differs, India’s experiences mirror the pain and horror that too many Israelis have endured at the hands of terrorism. Hence, we understand India’s grief. And now we must share the resolve.
Since the partition
India’s struggle with Pakistan is not new. Since the partition of British India, the two nations have fought several wars, such as 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999. Over the decades, Pakistan’s military and intelligence establishment has cultivated a network of jihadist organizations and terrorist proxies and used them as instruments of statecraft to sow chaos.
Groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed have received training, funding, and sanctuary inside Pakistan. These groups have carried out numerous attacks on Indian soil, such as the December 13, 2001, assault on the Indian parliament that left nine people dead.
The November 26, 2008, attacks in Mumbai were particularly horrific, when 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists murdered 166 people, including Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, at the city’s Chabad House. In 2016, Islamic terrorists attacked the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot in Punjab.
A thousand cuts
Pakistan’s goal is clear: to bleed India through a thousand cuts while maintaining plausible deniability.
This is a threat not only to India but to global security. Pakistan’s duplicity – presenting itself as a partner in counterterrorism while enabling extremist groups – has undermined regional peace for decades. Its refusal to dismantle the terrorist networks should be a red flag for the international community.
Nor is Pakistan’s hostility limited to India. It remains one of the few countries that do not recognize Israel. Its political class routinely spews anti-Israel rhetoric, and its educational and religious institutions have often served as incubators for antisemitic and anti-Western ideology.
While unofficial contacts have occasionally occurred behind the scenes, Islamabad continues to use Israel as a political scapegoat. Indeed, Pakistani passports explicitly state: “This passport is valid for all countries of the world except Israel.”
The terrorists who strike at India and those who target Israel are cut from the same cloth. Their aim is the destruction of democratic values and open societies.
Forceful response
In this struggle, leadership matters. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has demonstrated that India will not be cowed into silence or inaction. His forceful response to the April 22 terror attack reflects strength and strategic vision – qualities the international community should not only respect but emulate.
Modi has also overseen a blossoming of bilateral relations with Israel, in areas such as defense cooperation and technology exchange. But the friendship must now take deeper root.
There are tangible ways in which Israel can assist India in its counterterrorism efforts. Intelligence cooperation must be enhanced, particularly in tracking transnational terror financing and digital radicalization. Joint training between our armed forces should be expanded to share hard-won experience in asymmetrical warfare.
Israel’s advanced technologies in drone surveillance, cyber defense, and critical infrastructure protection can offer India important tools to preempt and prevent attacks. In the diplomatic sphere, Israel and India should be steadfast advocates for each other’s right to self-defense, especially when confronted with biased narratives in international forums.
India has demonstrated remarkable patience in the face of Pakistani mischief, but no country should be expected to tolerate the murder of its citizens. The time has come for like-minded nations to join forces more deliberately against the ideological and operational networks that sustain terrorism. This is not just about national defense; it is about the defense of civilization itself.
The Jewish people have a long and friendly history with India. Unlike in much of the rest of the world, Jews in India lived in peace and dignity for millennia. Now it is our turn to stand with India in its moment of need.
The writer served as deputy communications director under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.