Very happy with great amount of support by Indian public for Israel, says top diplomat
May 21, 2021
New Delhi [India], May 21 : Israeli Deputy envoy Rony Yedidia Clein on Friday welcomed the ceasefire announced between Israel and Palestine-extremist group Hamas and appreciated the "great amount of support" by the public in India.
Addressing a virtual press conference here the Israeli diplomat said also said that Israel believed that India did not show "public expressions" of support for it, similar to what some other countries such as the United States did.
The Israeli envoy also said that the "Indian public has expressed a great amount of support and we are very happy with that".
"We have reached a ceasefire with Hamas. We hope there will be no more firing from Hamas," said Clein during a virtual media briefing adding that the reality on the ground will determine how the Egypt-brokered ceasefire will hold.
The Israeli security cabinet unanimously adopted Egypt's initiative for a bilateral ceasefire, which took effect from 2 am on Friday (23:00 GMT on Thursday) according to a statement released by the Israel government's press office.
Clein also said that Israel received support from many countries including the US and the UAE and although India may not have made a public expression of support, it had an understanding of Israeli actions.
"When we spoke with our Indian counterparts, we found an understanding from them, although they did not go public, or have such public expressions of support as other countries did. We did have an understanding from the Indian government officials that we spoke with about Israeli actions," Clein said.
The ceasefire between Israel and Palestine extremist group Hamas came after more than 10 days of conflict which saw both sides firing rockets at each other that resulted in deaths of at least 217 Palestinians and 12 Israelis. Civilian deaths in Israel, included that of Kerala woman Soumya Santosh.
The envoy pointed out that the Israeli Embassy stays in constant contact with counterparts, including in India.
"When something happens, we stay in constant contact with our counterparts, like here in India with the Ministry of External Affairs. They are very understanding and we work together," Clein said.
She also referred to statements made by India at the United Nations Security Council as and the United Nations General Assembly by T S Tirumurti, India's Ambassador to the UN in New York, urging immediate de-escalation of tensions.
Last week, a new episode of Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out after the civil unrest in East Jerusalem, prompting hostilities on the border of Israel and the Gaza Strip, with Palestinian militants having launched approximately 3,700 rockets against Israel, which retaliated with airstrikes, Sputnik reported.
