A social media post is being widely shared online claiming that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister thanked PM Narendra Modi, RSS, and all Indians for standing up in support of Israel amidst the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Benjamin Netanyahu thanks PM Modi, RSS and all Indians in a social media post.
Fact: When we searched through the Twitter timeline of Benjamin Netanyahu, there was no post thanking PM Modi, RSS, or Indians amidst the ongoing conflict with Palestine. The only post that thanked 25 nations for supporting Israel and their right to self defence against terrorist attacks was found on his Twitter timeline. It has the same time and date as mentioned in the post but does not mention India. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
We went through the Twitter timeline of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looking for the claim made in the post that he thanked all Indians, PM Modi, and the RSS, but we could not find any post regarding the same. However, there was a post thanking 25 countries across the world ‘for resolutely standing with Israel and supporting our right to self-defense against terrorist attacks’ with the same exact time (3:47 am) and date (May 16, 2021) as mentioned in the post.
On further google search to find out whether Benjamin Netanyahu had actually thanked Indians, PM Modi, and RSS, we came across a couple of news articles which can be seen here and here. The articles report that Netanyahu thanked 25 nations for supporting Israel in the current conflict, but India wasn’t one of them. India has opposed Israeli settlements in Palestine, supports maintaining the status quo, says the report.
However, the State of Israel’s official Instagram account through their Instagram stories on 18 May 2021 has thanked the people of India and US who had supported Israel in these times. They have included pictures of people from these countries displaying Israel national flag as a mark of support.
When it comes to India’s official position in the ongoing conflict, it has been more neutral. India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador, T.S. Tirumurti had tweeted saying he told the UNSC meeting on Tuesday that India was “Deeply concerned at clashes and violence in Haram Al Sharif/Temple Mount” and “equally concerned about evictions in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighbourhoods”. He called on both sides to avoid changing the status quo on the ground and noted that Jerusalem also houses an Indian Hospice, Al Zawiyya Al Hindiyya. He went on to condemn rocket fire from Gaza and urged restraint of all parties calling on them to adhere to UNSC Resolution 2334 (which, voted for 14-0 in 2016, noting that Israel’s settlement activities in Palestinian territories were a “flagrant violation” of international law). India remains committed to the two-state solution, Ambassador Tirumurti said.
To sum it up, edited tweet is shared as Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu thanking PM Modi and RSS amidst the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Update (MAY 19, 2021):
This article was updated to include the State of Israel’s Instagram Stories thanking the people of India and US who had supported Israel.
