India, we shall not forsake you

It was only a matter of time before our Indian friends chimed in about Israel’s potential links with Pakistan. In “Why is Israel betraying India?” Manoj Pundit (which is a very apt last name for a writer on current events!), Naresh Raghubeer, and Ajit Someshwar outlined various instances of Pakistani malfeasance, hoping perhaps to convince Israelis to oppose ties with Pakistan. Despite the serious concerns that Indians and Israelis share about Pakistan, I still think that Israeli-Pakistani ties are a positive development. I understand Indian fears, but I do not believe Israel would ever compromise its special relationship with India in exchange for mere diplomatic relations with Pakistan. In other words, India has nothing to fear; Israel is not about to stop selling weapons to India just because Pakistan might want them to.

Still, I can’t get over the rich irony in all of this: Here is little Israel, treated as a pariah up until the early 1990’s, who now finds itself in the center of a tug of war of sorts between India and Pakistan.

“Israel is our friend!”
“But we can play with Israel, too.”
“Israel, who do you want to play with, us or Pakistan?”
“Uhhh…”
“Pakistan was calling you names before. You can’t trust them.”
“Well…”
“Don’t listen to the Indians. Besides, they’ve only been your friend since the early 1990’s. Maybe you should consider hanging out with us once in awhile.”
“But we were your friends first...”