Explained: How Israeli Diplomats Scrambled After Nadav Lapid's 'Kashmir Files' Comment, Why India Matters To Israel

The Israeli diplomatic community was quick in rubbishing Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid's comments on the film The Kashmir Files. 

Reacting to Lapid's statement calling The Kashmir Files "vulgar" and "propaganda", the Israeli diplomatic community said he "should be ashamed" of his comments. In an open letter, Ambassador of Israel to India Naor Gilon said he was not sure if Lapid had "enough factual basis to make such comparisons" of the film to propaganda. 

The Kashmir Files is a film by director-producer Vivek Agnihotri on the 1990 exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley because of terrorism, which often resulted in their targeted killings. 

The Israeli diplomats swung into damage control after people lashed out at Lapid on social media. In his letter, Naor said Lapid's comments made the job of his and his fellow diplomats in India difficult. He also formally apologised for Lapid's comments. 

India and Israel share a close relationship, particularly in the strategic and defence sectors. Israel values this relationship which has been on an upward trajectory in recent years. Here we explain why Israel values India as a partner and how the Israeli diplomats reacted. 

What did Nadav Lapid say on The Kashmir Files?

Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid was the head of the jury at the International Film Festival of India (IIFA), organised by the Union government, and he said that he and others were disturbed by The Kashmir Files. Lapid called The Kashmir Files "vulgar" and "propaganda".

"We were, all of us, disturbed and shocked by the 15th film The Kashmir Files. That felt to us like propaganda, vulgar movie, inappropriate for artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival. I feel totally comfortable to share these feelings with you on stage since the spirit of a film festival can truly accept a critical discussion, which is essential for art and for life," said Lapid.

Lapid's comments on The Kashmir Files evoked strong reactions from several Kashmiri Pandits driven out of Kashmir Valley in 1990. However, Lapid's comments have been hailed by several politicians and commentators who say The Kashmir Files was a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-supported project and showed Muslims and Kashmir in bad light.

How Israeli diplomats reacted to Lapid?

Multiple Israeli diplomats in India, including the Israeli ambassador, rubbished Nadav Lapid's comment and stated that Lapid's position was in no way the position of Israeli state.

Kobbi Shoshani, Israel's Counsel General in Mumbai, met The Kashmir Files actor Anupam Kher and said the first thing he did in the morning was to call Kher and apologise for Lapid's comments. He also termed Lapid's comment "stupid".

Sharing a video of Shoshani's statement on Twitter, Kher said, "Thank you, dearest Kobbi Shoshani, Counsel General of Israel in Mumbai, for visiting my school Actor Prepares. Our friendship is too strong to get affected by an individual’s vulgar remark at IFFI. But I really appreciate your gesture, generosity and kindness."

In an open letter, Israel's Ambassador to India Naor Gilon said Lapid is free to criticise anyone but he should reflect his frustration with Israeli politics on other countries. He further said the comments were "insensitive and presumptuous".

Naor said, "I’m no film expert but I do know that it’s insensitive and presumptuous to speak about historic events before deeply studying them and which are an open wound in India because many of the involved are still around and still paying a price...From your interview to Ynet the connection you make between your  criticism of #KashmirFiles and your dislike to what is happening in Israeli politics was quite evident.

"My suggestion. As you vocally did in the past, feel free to use the liberty to sound your criticism of what you dislike in Israel but no need to reflect your frustration on other countries. I’m not sure that you have enough factual basis to make such comparisons. I know I don’t."

Naor further said that Lapid abused the Indian invitation, who treat guests like Gods.

"In Indian culture they say that a guest is like God. You have abused in the worst way the Indian invitation to chair the panel of judges at IFFI, Goa as well as the trust, respect and warm hospitality they have bestowed on you," said Naor.

However, Naor said that the India-Israel relationship is stronger enough to be affected by Lapid's comments.

"The friendship between the people and the states of India and Israel is very strong and will survive the damage you have inflicted. As a human being, I feel ashamed and want to apologize to our hosts for the bad manner in which we repaid them for their generosity and friendship," said Naor.

Why India matters to Israel?

India and Israel have a close relationship and have particularly thick security and strategic partnership.

Though India and Israel only established full formal diplomatic relations in 1992, because of reservations over alienating Muslim and Arab concerns over the Palestinian issue, there existed a cooperation before 1992 as well. In the last decades, particularly since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in New Delhi in 2014, the relationship has been on an upward trajectory. 

Indiaspend notes, "The earliest signs of collaboration came during the 1962 Sino-Indian war, when Israel provided India military aid. Israel also assisted India during two wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971...India reciprocated during the six-day war in 1967 by providing Israel with spare parts for French-made Mystere and Ouragan aircraft as well as AX-13 tanks.

"The highlight of the partnership was Israel’s supply of artillery shells during the Kargil war in 1999 when India faced a shortage. In the late 1990s, a crucial defence deal was the Indian purchase of Barak 1, an air-defence missile, bought specifically for its capability to intercept US-made Harpoon missiles deployed by Pakistan. India’s imports of unarmed vehicles (UAVs) have almost all been from Israel."

India is also the leading buyer of Israeli defence equipment. 

India receives the highest share of Israeli defence exports at 37 per cent of, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). 

On the contrary, SIPRI fact-sheet on arms trade shows Israel is not in top three of Indian defence sources, meaning that Israel has a much more export dependency on India than India has on Israeli imports. Therefore, in terms of defence trade, India matters hugely to Israel.

Moreover, on the diplomatic front, nurturing a deep relationship with India has been one of the achievements of Israel, which has been shunned by many countries over the Palestinian issues. 

In 2017, Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel. The welcome accorded to Modi in Israel was the one that's only reserved in Israel for the President of the United States and the Pope. Moreover, Modi and former Israeli PM and current PM-designate Benjamin Netanyahu share a personal rapport. During Modi's visit, the photos of the two leaders on the beach were shared widely. Netanyahu is considered to be a strong advocate of a closer India-Israel relationship.

PTI reported that India and Israel elevated their bilateral relations to a strategic partnership during Modi's visit to Israel. Since then, the relationship between India and Israel has focused on expanding knowledge-based partnership, which includes collaboration in innovation and research, including boosting the 'Make in India' initiative.

Delhi Defence Forum's Editor Yusuf Unjhawala said on Twitter that India is one of the countries that Isreal can count as friend.

"While defence ties are important, reasons for the over-reaction from Israel go beyond. India is one of the few countries that Israel can count on as a friend, even if we abstain or vote against it in the United Nations," said Unjhawala.

(With PTI inputs)