New Delhi: After the Gaza conflict, now tension continues to simmer between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia supported by Iran. Since last October, Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging drone and cross-border missile attacks, resulting in the forced evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians on both sides of the border. Israel claims it is taking action to safeguard its northern border, while Hezbollah claims it is fighting in Gaza to support Hamas.
In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, the Israeli Deputy Chief of Mission, Fares Saeb said, “We don't want this war, especially not with Hezbollah, especially not against Lebanon. We don't have anything against Lebanon. On the contrary, we see Lebanon as a neighbour for many reasons, but it won't happen with an Iranian proxy in Lebanon right now”.
Excerpts from the interview...
ETB: Tensions are escalating in the West Asia region. First the Gaza situation and now it's the conflict with Hezbollah. What is Israel doing about it? how does Israel view this and what potential pathways exist to de-escalate tension between Israel and Lebanon?
DCM: As far as conflict is concerned, our stand is very clear. We still have 101 hostages held by Hamas. And until we don't have our hostages back, until we are not sure that Hamas won't have any more military capabilities, the war against Hamas won't stop. This is clear.
As you all know, since October 8, Hezbollah decided to join the terror effort of Hamas, as both are Iranian proxies, and started firing missiles over Israel. Since October 8, without any provocation from Israel, we haven't initiated anything against Hezbollah at that point. And then they started to join the effort of all the proxies, of course, add to this the Houthis in Yemen and add to this the militias in Iraq. And you got like a multi-front war against Israel that started the same day. We decided, because we wanted to concentrate on releasing our hostages on the conflict against Hamas, that we are not going to respond. We saw the tragedies that happened lately with the missile that hit the Druze villages in the Golan Heights, killing 12 children. Unfortunately, personally, five of them are related to my family. And then Hezbollah started firing on Israeli citizens, and not only on the north.
Almost 80,000 Israelis were outside their houses, and we want them back. So, the question is not where we are taking this. The question is what's the end game of the other side of Hezbollah? Where do they want to take it? We don't want this war. We don't want this war, especially not with Hezbollah, especially not against Lebanon. We don't have anything against Lebanon. On the contrary, we see Lebanon as a neighbour for many reasons, but it won't happen with an Iranian proxy in Lebanon right now. I really hope that the situation will de-escalate, that the other side will understand where this thing is going, and they will. This is where we stand now.
ETB: It's been a year now since the Gaza conflict started. So where are we heading? What is the way forward? And what is the Israeli government up to when it comes to the Gaza conflict? Are we going to see any kind of peace prevailing for that matter because the international community is really concerned about the situation because there are a lot of geopolitical challenges arising out of this conflict?
DCM: How can we talk about peace when you still have hostages? When you still have a terror organisation who's still in control and is still... You know what? They don't have only 101 Israeli hostages there. They are holding the local population, the Gazan population as hostages, using them as human shields, using them to protect their assets, what's left of their assets. Hamas doesn't exist as an organisation, as a power. After that point, we can start discussing what will happen the day after. The involvement of the international community, the involvement of moderate Arab countries, involvement of moderate Palestinian leadership. There are many things that can be done, but it won't happen without those two elements. Having our hostages back and eliminating Hamas as a terrible military power in Gaza.
ETB: How do you see the India-Israel relationship going forward?
DCM: One of the reasons that I applied to this position as a DCM is because being an Israeli diplomat now in India is a great opportunity because we are handling, we are discussing, we are having conversations with our Indian counterparts on almost all levels and in so many fields. Since I arrived here, just less than two months ago, I have had the opportunity to meet people who are handling the technology and start-ups here in India.
Of course, the classical fields of agriculture and water, and now we are talking about health and cooperation between academies, the connection between people to people. That is very important. Both countries have a vision of the future. Now that India is, let's face it, it's not the India of 30 or 40 years ago. It's a nation that went to the moon. We also tried. But of course, we have so many fields that we can cooperate in. I think that the next step with India should be translating all the dialogues that we have, all the positive energy that we have between our countries into reality, more agreements in more fields, and I think that the future of our country is very bright.
ETB: How do you see India’s stance? India was the first country to condemn this conflict. Your take on New Delhi’s role? We have a good relationship with Israel as well as with Palestine for that matter.
DCM: Well, it depends on the Indian leadership, how do they see the role of India in global conflicts generally, not only about West Asia. But we do see India as a very moderate voice in international organisation and community. Of course, we would like India to help us in the effort of not politicising the international organisation, because this is what's happening now. We see Palestinians and some other states are trying to push to politicise organisations that are not supposed to be political, like international communication organisations, professional health organisations, things like that. And we want India to stand with us in those cases. We can't deny that the relation between Israel and India now is a big friendship that we are pushing it even forward.
ETB: On a special request from Israel, India has sent construction workers to Israel, many have already left and many more are expected to arrive. And there are multiple reports coming in that the Indian workers are facing issues. What is Israel doing to ensure their safety?
DCM: First, we have different levels of agreements, the agreements between business to business and government to government. And the agreements that we have at the governmental level are supposed to handle all the issues that were raised lately, especially in the media. Of course there are some exaggerations about that. The Indian workers that came to Israel, many of them are high level. And then it's hard to monitor, especially that now we have around 10,000 Indian workers in Israel, and there are more that are supposed to come. The idea is to have Indian companies coming to Israel for infrastructure projects. The way things work in Israel is different from how they work in India. So, it takes time for the system to adapt to new ideas, to new methods, things like that. The general opinion is very positive. We want more labourers from India.
We treat all foreigners in Israel, be it workers, students as any other Israeli citizens. We have the home front command instructions in different languages, Hebrew, Arabic, English and other languages that are more common in Israel. They are safe where they work. All foreigners in Israel are secured by our forces, security forces, and the IDF.
ETB: Is there any kind of back-channel talks going on with India when it comes to resolving the conflict in the region?
DCM: Not everything happening in the diplomatic world can be spoken, but we do see India as an important partner. We do see India as a moderate voice. Of course, India also has connections and relations with countries and with organisations that Israel is not part of. So we want our Indian friends to be the voice. I think that India can play a role
ETB: Few reports suggest that Indian weapons are reaching Israel and Israel is using it against Gaza. Is it true?
DCM: I can tell you what Israel’s only secret weapon is. It's its people. When the conflict started, more than 30,000 Israelis left trips abroad, studies, workplaces, and flew to Israel to be part of protecting our country. What we have with our friends internationally, of course, we keep for ourselves and our friends. We thank any government, any nation who supports us, and it doesn't matter at which level. As I said, Israel is not only at war against the proxies, but we have also a huge international campaign, international organisation against us and there we need our friends.
ETB: What impact could the India Middle East Economic Corridor have on regional security and stability and as far as China’s road and belt initiatives are concerned, any progress on the project?
DCM: The project itself, as I said, it makes sense. It makes sense to India to be connected with Europe through sea and land. It makes sense to Israel to be connected back to Asia, as for many years we were not part of it. We were pushed toward Europe. There are a few things on the ground, but I think that nothing will happen now. The leadership will take the decision to take it forward and of course we need some kind of de-escalation in our region. We are very sincere about it, we understand this. We do want this project to proceed. We do want our neighbours to be part of it. We do want India to lead it as well. It’s important for us that India will be one of the leaders of this project. It will contribute to really connecting the two regions. India has a very crucial role to make this project doable. I'm optimistic. As Israelis, optimism is something in our nature. That's why we thrive despite everything happening to us.
India now has a harsher neighbourhood than it was a few years ago. And as the biggest democracy in the world, India has a stand, especially when it comes to totalitarian regimes like we have in some countries here in the neighbourhood. I think in this case, India needs to be the moral campus of the region. I know that India has very good relations and connections with the neighbours in the Pacific and in the Indian Ocean, that India is trying to be the leading voice of stability and reasonable geopolitics here in the region. India as an emerging power, as a country that has the potential to become one of the most important global powers. I'm optimistic about the future of India. And as I said, I'm optimistic about the future of the relationship between our countries.
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