Indians Supporting Israel

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Overview

Indians Supporting Israel refers to the cliché that Indian internet users, especially on X (formerly Twitter), are often vocal supporters of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Viral instances of Indians expressing support for Israelis and being rebuffed by Israeli people have existed online since at least 2020. Memes about Indian internet users' bias toward Israel were widely shared after the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated in October 2023.

Background

India was the first non-Arab country to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as a legitimate government in 1974, with full diplomatic relations being established in 1980 and India recognizing Palestine's statehood in 1988.^[1]

India-Israel relations were initially strained between 1948 and 1950, with Indian leaders like Gandhi and Nehru opposing the creation of the Israeli state on religious terms.^[2]^[3] However, India-Israel diplomatic relations grew stronger in the 1990s, with Israel supplying India with ammunition and intelligence during the Indo-Pakistan wars of 1971 and 1999. Full diplomatic relations between India and Israel were established in 1992, with embassies being opened in both nations' capitals.^[4]

Notably, a 2009 international study on the Arab-Israel conflict found that 58 percent of surveyed Indian respondents sympathized with Israel, making India a country with one of the most positive opinions of Israel.^[5]

Online History

A press statement put out by the Israeli Prime Minister's official X (formerly Twitter) account on August 3rd, 2020, elicited responses from Indian internet users showing support for Israel (seen below, left).^[6] The post led to an interaction between supposed Israeli X user Benjamin Rivilin and Indian user Shubham Tripathi on August 8th, 2020 (seen below, right).^[7] Screenshots of the interaction have since been reposted on X.^[8]^[9]^[10]

A May 16th, 2021, post on X by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu^[11] also elicited responses from Indian internet users who wanted Netanyahu to include the Indian flag in the list of nations supporting Israel. X^[12] user @tequierolionel posted a meme about the phenomenon on May 16th, 2021, gathering over 6,000 likes in two years (seen below, left). X^[13] user @lib_crusher made a post that read, "lmao he forgot India Hindutva twitter is going to lose it," gathering over 4,000 likes in two years (seen below, right).

Anonymous users discussed Indian internet users expressing support for Israel in a 4chan /pol/ thread in May 2021,^[14] with one user posting a meme about the issue (seen below, left). X^[15] user @Dispropoganda made a post about the issue as well, gathering over 1,000 likes in two years (seen below, right).

On May 12th, 2021, X^[16] user @AminaaKausar posted a screenshot of a Facebook post in which an Indian man supposedly expressed his wish to join the IDF. The post gathered over 3,000 likes in two years (seen below, left). Also in May 2021, a deleted X^[17] account combining Adolf Hitler with Hindu imagery was posted in support of Israel (seen below, right). Screenshots have since been reposted on X.^[20]

2023 Hamas-Israel Conflict

In October 2023, various users noted the tendency of Indian internet users to support Israel. X^[18] user @BiruniKhorasan posted a meme depicting their perception of the issue on October 8th, 2023, gathering over 15,000 likes in a day (seen below, left). X^[19] user @AltHistCody posted about the issue on October 7th, gathering over 37,000 likes in a similar timeframe (seen below, right).