Just three weeks before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to travel on a state visit to India with the sole Jewish survivor of the horrific 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai, India’s Ambassador voted to support a United Nations General Assembly resolution rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Israel filed a formal protest with the New Delhi government, according to the Hebrew-language Ma’ariv newspaper.
The vote came less than half a year after a mammoth lovefest wrapped in an outpouring of admiration for all things Indian inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Israel this past July. It shocked Israelis like a bucket of ice-cold water thrown straight at them; most people were stunned, and then outraged by the betrayal.
Not a few citizens in India apparently were unhappy as well, tweeting their disapproval, according to Mida. “This isn’t why we voted for you,” the site reported one person tweeted. “Don’t expected help from Israel after you betrayed them,” another wrote.
However, what goes around, comes around, the saying goes. Or, if you are Indian, “karma.”
Palestinian Authority Ambassador to Pakistan Walid Abu Ali took the stage last week with at a rally held in Rawalpindi with the leader of the Lashkar-e-Taibi terrorist organization, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, to call for an Islamic summit meeting to “defend Jerusalem from Israel.”
Saeed is accused of masterminding the November 2008 terrorist attack that left 173 people dead and another 308 wounded in Mumbai – including Rabbi Gavriel and Rebetzin Rivka Holtzberg, Moishe Holtzberg’s parents – and four other Jews who were guests at their Nariman Chabad House.
The rally was organized by the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (Defense of Pakistan Council), an umbrella organization headed by Saeed, comprised of some 40 religious and extremist groups that regularly attack India, according to Ynet, which quoted Indian media as saying the New Delhi government was “surprised and shocked” by Abu Ali’s presence at the rally. His appearance and support for Pakistan — and Pakistani terrorists — was seen as a major slap in the face to India.
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas had already paid a “state visit” to India in May 2017 — his sixth visit to the country — where he was reassured that Modi would continue India’s “unwavering support” to his cause. Prime Minister Modi reportedly is expected to reciprocate some time in the coming year.
Hours after the New Delhi government protested vociferously to Ramallah, Abu Ali was recalled from his post by the Palestinian Authority.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, “The people and government of Pakistan respect the Palestinian Ambassador’s active participation in events organization to express solidarity with the people of Palestine.
“This public rally was attended by thousands of people from all walks of life. More than 50 speakers addressed the rally, including Hafiz Saeed. Contrary to the impression being created, UN proscription does not place any restrictions on the freedom of expression.”
Needless to say, Israelis are not shocked at all.