India\'s Israel Policy - P. R. Kumaraswamy

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  1. prelude to normalization 317
    of his mother, Indira. During Nehru’s seventeen- year tenure as prime min-
    ister, his daughter often accompanied him on foreign tours and took part in
    many meetings with foreign dignitaries. For example, she was present dur-
    ing the lunch Nehru gave to the Israeli diplomat Walter Eytan in February



  2. For a detailed discussion of his term as prime minister, see Sengupta, Rajiv
    Gandhi.

  3. Kumaraswamy, “The Star and the Dragon.” For a detailed discussion on
    Sino- Saudi ties, see Shichor, East Wind Over Arabia.

  4. ADL International Report: India’s Campaign Against Israel.

  5. The Hindu (Madras) (December 30, 1988).

  6. Khergamvala, “Covert Contact with Israel,” The Hindu (January 18, 1989).
    He also highlights internal opposition within India regarding Israel.

  7. “Leak to Media by Jewish Leader Aborts Improvement of India- Israel Sta-
    tus,” Middle East Times (July 23– 29, 1988); Joseph, “Solarz Gushes Over
    Thaw in Indo- Israeli Ties,” Pioneer (January 31, 1992).

  8. “Jewish Leaders and Solarz Meet Gandhi,” India Abroad (June 17, 1988);
    Akbar, “New York Diary,” Tel e g raph (Calcutta) (June 12, 1988).

  9. Ha’aretz (July 15, 1988), in FBIS- NES (July 19, 1988): 45; India Today (Sep-
    tember 30, 1988): 155.

  10. Interestingly, exactly three years later, as prime minister, Rao normalized
    relations, and Singh became India’s fi rst ambassador to Israel.

  11. Hordes, “Is India Rethinking Its Policy on Israel?” 3– 5.

  12. Khergamvala, “Covert Contact with Israel.”

  13. For details of this attack, see Perlmutter, Handel, and Bar- Joseph, Two Min-
    utes Over Baghdad.

  14. Israeli Foreign Aff airs (April 1987): 4.

  15. See the text of Pollard’s August 1986 memo to the court, in Henderson, Pol-
    lard, 51– 78; Indian Express (March 28, 1988); Blitzer, Territory of Lies, 168–
    169; and Israeli Foreign Aff airs (April 1987): 1.

  16. Sunday Observer (New Delhi) (January 17, 1988). Emphasis added.

  17. For the text of his speech, see Indian Express (October 14– 15, 1985).

  18. The Islamic Bomb, written by Steve Weissman and Herbert Krosney (1981),
    propagated this idea and was quickly picked up by others.

  19. However, a formal agreement to this eff ect was signed on December 31,
    1988, and came into force in January 1993, nearly two years after Gandhi’s
    assassination.

  20. For a detailed discussion, see Kumaraswamy, “India, Israel, and the Davis
    Cup Tie 1987.”

  21. For a fi rst- person account, see Dayan, Breakthrough, 26– 29.

  22. India eventually lost to Sweden in the fi nals. India previously had reached
    the Davis Cup fi nals in 1974. By refusing to play against the apartheid re-
    gime, it forfeited the match to South Africa, which was awarded the title.

  23. The following year, however, India refused to play the relegation match,
    thereby underscoring the limitations of sanctions.

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