The Congress party absolutely went after Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his speech in Israel’s Knesset. They didn’t mince words. Jairam Ramesh and the team basically said Modi’s address was an “unabashed defence” of Benjamin Netanyahu, full stop. And the big accusation? It seriously damaged India’s moral standing on the global stage. That’s not a small charge—they’re saying India used to stand for something bigger, and now it’s looking compromised.
Modi was in Israel recently, and when he stood up in their parliament, he went all in on solidarity. He talked about feeling Israel’s pain after October 7, said India stands with them “with full conviction,” even brought up how India recognised Israel right around the time he was born. It was warm, personal, very pro-Israel. A lot of people watching probably thought, strong friendship, makes sense geopolitically.
But back home, the opposition is furious. They’re calling it one-sided cheerleading that completely ignored the other half of the story—the massive suffering in Gaza, the civilian deaths, the international court cases, the whole decades-long Palestinian question. Congress says by not even mentioning any of that, Modi basically threw away India’s long tradition of speaking up for the underdog and calling for justice on both sides. They’re framing it as not just bad politics, but a betrayal of what India has always stood for.
And here’s where they really hit hard—they dragged out that old letter from Jawaharlal Nehru to Albert Einstein. Back in June 1947, Einstein wrote to Nehru questioning India to support the creation of Israel. Nehru replied in July that year, and his words were classic Nehru: full of empathy but dead balanced.
He told Einstein he felt huge sympathy for the Jews after everything they’d suffered. But he also felt deep sympathy for the Arabs who’d lived there for generations. He said the whole thing was immerse in emotion on both sides, and forcing a solution without fairness would just make more pain. Nehru basically said: look, any answer has to be just, acceptable to everyone, and built on big-hearted compromise.
Otherwise, no real peace.
Congress is waving that letter around like proof. “This is how India used to talk about tough issues—with nuance, with conscience, with moral weight,” they’re saying. “Now we’re just picking one team and going full-throttle.”
The government will tell you this is smart realpolitik—building stronger ties with Israel for defence, tech, counter-terrorism, all that jazz in a dangerous neighbourhood. But the Congress line is louder right now: when the world is watching Gaza and asking hard questions, standing so openly on one side without any balancing word makes India look like it’s lost its moral compass. And invoking Nehru-Einstein? That’s emotional dynamite in Indian politics.
Whether this actually moves votes or just stays as another loud opposition attack, it’s surely exciting the pot. India’s position on Palestine-Israel has always been a tightrope walk. Right now, feels like the rope just got a lot shakier.
Sources:
The Hindu
Mid-Day & Scroll.in reports on Jairam Ramesh’s statement
PTI coverage & Ramesh’s X posts
Nehru’s letter to Einstein (11 July 1947) – Nehru Memorial Museum & Library archives, widely quoted in recent articles
