New Delhi/Tel Aviv: As several Western nations impose arms embargoes or restrictions on Israel over the war in Gaza, Tel Aviv is increasingly looking at India as a long-term defence manufacturing and strategic partner in its search for alternatives.
Deepening of strategic partnership, especially in the areas of defence, space and artificial intelligence will be the key focus of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming visit to India, dates of which are still being worked out.
ThePrint visited Tel Aviv and Jerusalem at the invitation of the Israeli government, and spoke to officials from the country’s defence industry, foreign ministry and security establishment to understand the future trajectory of bilateral ties with India.
“We have realised who our real friends are. India is indeed a friend, and we are looking at expanding our bilateral defence cooperation,” an Israeli source said.
The push for deeper cooperation is not limited to securing Indian orders, ThePrint has learnt. “We are looking at India as a manufacturing base not only for Indian requirements, but also to meet Israel’s own demand and for exports,” another source said.
Several countries, including Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium and Slovenia in Europe, along with Canada, Japan and others, have imposed outright embargoes or near-total bans on military trade with Israel since the beginning of the Gaza conflict in 2023. Spain has cancelled pre-existing defence contracts with Israeli companies.
In October this year, Spain’s parliament had approved a legislation enforcing a total arms embargo on Israel, permanently banning the sale of weapons, dual-use technology and military equipment. Spain, which has particularly taken a hard line, had in May last year also denied port access to a Danish-flagged merchant vessel carrying what it said was “27 tonnes of explosive material from India to Israel”, arguing that the Middle East “requires peace and not more weapons”.
In September, Italy’s Adriatic port of Ravenna had refused entry to two trucks reportedly carrying arms to Israel, as protests by dockworkers and labour unions against the Gaza war intensified even though there is no official ban by the Italian government.
Earlier this month, German airline Lufthansa said that following a British export control directive and related sanctions, transporting military equipment and components to and from Tel Aviv was “currently impossible, regardless of the route”.
Meanwhile, countries, like France and the United Kingdom, are debating restrictions on supplying military sub-systems to Israel, even though they are not direct suppliers of complete platforms.
The high civilian death toll and destruction of properties in Gaza have fuelled growing international concern. Following Israel’s announcement of a planned takeover of Gaza City, Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and UK, along with European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, issued a joint statement “strongly rejecting” the move, warning that it risked violating international humanitarian law.
Israel is thus reassessing its defence partnerships, even though its own sale of military equipment to Europe is at an all-time high. Israeli defence companies are currently sitting on signed orders from Europe that would sustain them over the next four-five years, even if no new orders are placed.
Israel’s small geographic size and security vulnerabilities have made diversification of defence manufacturing a strategic priority, sources in Israel further explained. “Israel is acutely aware that it needs defence production facilities beyond its own territory, preferably in friendly countries. India is one such location, and in the coming months, you will see a lot of collaboration taking place,” a third source said.
Indian officials have acknowledged that extensive discussions are underway. “Israel has cutting-edge technology, and India has the ability to scale up manufacturing. It is a win-win situation for both sides,” an Indian source told ThePrint.
However, Israeli companies are waiting for further changes in India’s defence ecosystem, including norms governing joint ventures, foreign direct investment (FDI) and the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP).
Strengthening defence cooperation was one of the key focus areas during Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh’s visit to Israel in early November. He co-chaired the India–Israel Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting in Tel Aviv, during which both sides signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at deepening cooperation through joint development, co-production of defence systems and advanced technology sharing, including artificial intelligence, cyber capabilities, training, and Research and Development.
“The MoUs are enabling agreements for the kind of work that is being planned,” a source said.
Israel’s relative share in India’s arms imports has declined in recent years amid New Delhi’s push for indigenisation and diversification of suppliers. While Israel accounted for around 34 percent of India’s arms imports from 2015 to 2019, its share has fallen to single digits as of 2025, according to available data.
Despite this, Israel continues to remain among India’s top defence suppliers, behind France and Russia.
Sources argue that the relationship is evolving from having a buyer–seller dynamic to one focused on joint development and manufacturing partnerships—a shift they view as more durable than traditional arms sales.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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