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Hostile Homelands: The New Alliance Between India and Israel
'A valuable study, with rich insights' - Noam Chomsky
'Extraordinary' - Ilan Pappe
‘Formidable and timely' - Mohammed El-Kurd
Under Narendra Modi, India has changed dramatically. As the world attempts to grapple with its trajectory towards authoritarianism and 'Hindutva' (Hindu Nationalism), little attention has been paid to the linkages between Modi's India and the governments from which it has drawn inspiration, as well as military and technical support.
India once called Zionism racism, but, as Azad Essa argues, the state of Israel has increasingly become a cornerstone of India’s foreign policy. Looking to replicate the 'ethnic state' in the image of Israel in policy and practice, the annexation of Kashmir increasingly resembles Israel's settler-colonial project of the occupied West Bank. The ideological and political linkages between the two states are alarming; their brands of ethnonationalism are deeply intertwined.
Hostile Homelands puts India's relationship with Israel in its historical context, looking at the origins of Zionism and Hindutva; India’s changing position on Palestine; and the countries' growing military-industrial relationship from the 1990s. Lucid and persuasive, Essa demonstrates that the India-Israel alliance spells significant consequences for democracy, the rule of law, and justice worldwide.
'Extraordinary' - Ilan Pappe
‘Formidable and timely' - Mohammed El-Kurd
Under Narendra Modi, India has changed dramatically. As the world attempts to grapple with its trajectory towards authoritarianism and 'Hindutva' (Hindu Nationalism), little attention has been paid to the linkages between Modi's India and the governments from which it has drawn inspiration, as well as military and technical support.
India once called Zionism racism, but, as Azad Essa argues, the state of Israel has increasingly become a cornerstone of India’s foreign policy. Looking to replicate the 'ethnic state' in the image of Israel in policy and practice, the annexation of Kashmir increasingly resembles Israel's settler-colonial project of the occupied West Bank. The ideological and political linkages between the two states are alarming; their brands of ethnonationalism are deeply intertwined.
Hostile Homelands puts India's relationship with Israel in its historical context, looking at the origins of Zionism and Hindutva; India’s changing position on Palestine; and the countries' growing military-industrial relationship from the 1990s. Lucid and persuasive, Essa demonstrates that the India-Israel alliance spells significant consequences for democracy, the rule of law, and justice worldwide.
240 pages, Paperback
Published February 20, 2023
About the author
Azad Essa
6 books46 followersAzad Essa is a South African journalist and author based in NYC.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
February 21, 2025
This is a must-read. I really appreciated how the author breaks down the historical development of India-Israel relations, showing how their alliance didn’t just appear out of nowhere but was decades in the making. The parallels between Kashmir and Palestine are especially striking—Azad Essa does an incredible job illustrating how both are shaped by military occupation, surveillance, and ethno-nationalism (Zionism and Hindutva).
The book also helped contextualize recent events, like Modi’s recent visit with Trump, which further cemented this global far-right axis. It’s a sharp, necessary analysis that connects past and present, showing just how deep these alliances run. Highly recommend.
The book also helped contextualize recent events, like Modi’s recent visit with Trump, which further cemented this global far-right axis. It’s a sharp, necessary analysis that connects past and present, showing just how deep these alliances run. Highly recommend.
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May 1, 2024genuinely so educational i did not know anything about indian political history before reading this and i feel like i understand so much more now. also hindu nationalists (hindutva!!!) are fucking insane fascists. like that was obvious but it is so much more obvious now. but the author painted such a clear picture of the historical development of indian politics and its growing alliance with israel. also the stuff about kashmir was helpful for me personally bc i also did not know much about it. so much good info (but like also awful to realize) lol i need my parents to read this.
i guess what stands out to me from all of this is india’s continuing use of soft power, cultural exports, and the insane hindutva fundraising and propaganda that is spread in the diaspora is disguising india’s capacity as a settler colonial state (as can be seen in hypermilitarized kashmir).
i guess what stands out to me from all of this is india’s continuing use of soft power, cultural exports, and the insane hindutva fundraising and propaganda that is spread in the diaspora is disguising india’s capacity as a settler colonial state (as can be seen in hypermilitarized kashmir).
June 21, 2023
My completion of this book coincides, synchronously, with the White House's welcome of Narendra Modi for a visit. I understand the larger context and a more ominous trajectory in this visit than I would have before reading this book. While my many visits to India over the years have made the increasing nationalism, religious intolerance, authoritarianism and colonial agenda in Kashmir clear to me, I did not see the larger geopolitical dynamics.
Through his detailed analysis and comparison of contexts, strategies and dynamics in India's colonization of Kashmir and Israel's of Palestine, and by tracing the political and financial relationships between these two countries and with other global powers, the author paints a picture that defines the ways that fascism takes hold and democracies lose ground while our attention is elsewhere or through deceptive narratives that obscure what's actually happening.
Hostile Homelands is illuminating regarding the alliance between Israel and India and the ways their national and colonial projects are unfolding, but also about global geopolitical dynamics. These two countries with their nationalist ideologies, partitions, forced migrations, ethnic cleansing and genocides are examined in detail as a lens through which we can see the foundations of those movements activating in other parts of the world, often with US involvement or support that is not acknowledged clearly at home.
Through his detailed analysis and comparison of contexts, strategies and dynamics in India's colonization of Kashmir and Israel's of Palestine, and by tracing the political and financial relationships between these two countries and with other global powers, the author paints a picture that defines the ways that fascism takes hold and democracies lose ground while our attention is elsewhere or through deceptive narratives that obscure what's actually happening.
Hostile Homelands is illuminating regarding the alliance between Israel and India and the ways their national and colonial projects are unfolding, but also about global geopolitical dynamics. These two countries with their nationalist ideologies, partitions, forced migrations, ethnic cleansing and genocides are examined in detail as a lens through which we can see the foundations of those movements activating in other parts of the world, often with US involvement or support that is not acknowledged clearly at home.
January 18, 2024
A very relevant book given the recent times. CANNOT RECOMMEND IT ENOUGH
June 16, 2024
Incredibly informative book about the intertwined rise of Hindutva and Zionist ideologies in India, Israel, and across the diaspora, both of which are fueled by Islamaphobia and the “War on Terror”. The author thoughtfully traces the devastatingly oppressive settler-colonial projects of Kashmir and Palestine while interspersing quotes and interviews from grassroots organizers and folks on the ground. As Modi’s ethno-nationalist agenda for a Hindu India grows momentum, India’s policy change from supporting Palestine on the world stage to purchasing Israeli arms should come as no surprise; it’s frightening nonetheless.
November 12, 2023
Excellently researched, slightly terrifying, very relevant.
June 13, 2026
During the Cold War, Indian democracy was a guard against expansionist communism, despite its friendship with the former USSR. Today it is a bulwark of neoliberalism. Journalist Andre Vitchek writes:
'In the West we have a tendency to call these violent countries [like India] "peaceful" and "tolerant" as long as they serve as a buffer against China, as long as they plunder their natural resources on behalf of our private companies, as long as they are willing to uphold savage capitalism.'
The book to read if you want to understand the far-right Hindu nationalist movement, Hindutva, and not fall for Hindutva dogwhistles. Azard Essa, in drawing the parallel to the Zionist playbook, made a helpful comparison to untangle the narratives around "Hinduphobia."
Understanding the political history of Indian independence, tracing Indian political leaders' relationship with Palestine (pro-Palestine due to Israel being associated with British colonization) before now openly aligning with Israel, and barely making even empty gestures to Palestine. I vastly appreciated this tracing of history.
And the last chapter on understanding the Indian lobby in America where many upper-caste Indians are often mobilized for Indian domestic interests, from sending remittances to being very vocal against what they perceive as Hinduphobic rhetoric, putting themselves as the victim, similar to Zionist groups who use anti-semitism to paint themselves the victim, meanwhile perpetuating war crimes against Muslims.
As someone in the yoga space, I now realize that I have heard Hindutva arguments being disseminated in the diaspora. From emphasizing Sanskrit as the only authentic language of yoga, to caste apologies ("it was not that bad before the British came"), this book was super helpful in understanding the historical and modern political agenda of the far-right movement in India. They have become very effective in co-opting the language of anti-racism whenever war crimes against minorities, Muslims, Kashmiris, and non-dominant caste members are called out.
All indicators suggest that a project of ethnic cleansing is well underway in India. Minorities are being squeezed under a rubric of an all-consuming Hindu majoritarian project backed by giant oligarchs and corporations that threaten to tear apart a fragile country that has never been a nation.
But Western democratic states have neither the political inclination nor the moral authority to hold Modi accountable. Delhi knows this. Meanwhile, Muslim majority countries, especially those in the Gulf, have in India an infinite resource of cheap human labor needed to build their luxury cities, a customer of energy, and now a geo-political ally.
Good job to Pluto Press for publishing Azad Essa's work. I had no idea who the author was or the publisher, but I found it while doing some research on Hindutva, and an interview with the author came up. When I spoke about it with a friend, they only had good things to say about Pluto Press, so I will definitely be keeping my eye on this publisher! (In fact, I just ordered another book from them lol).
'In the West we have a tendency to call these violent countries [like India] "peaceful" and "tolerant" as long as they serve as a buffer against China, as long as they plunder their natural resources on behalf of our private companies, as long as they are willing to uphold savage capitalism.'
The book to read if you want to understand the far-right Hindu nationalist movement, Hindutva, and not fall for Hindutva dogwhistles. Azard Essa, in drawing the parallel to the Zionist playbook, made a helpful comparison to untangle the narratives around "Hinduphobia."
Understanding the political history of Indian independence, tracing Indian political leaders' relationship with Palestine (pro-Palestine due to Israel being associated with British colonization) before now openly aligning with Israel, and barely making even empty gestures to Palestine. I vastly appreciated this tracing of history.
And the last chapter on understanding the Indian lobby in America where many upper-caste Indians are often mobilized for Indian domestic interests, from sending remittances to being very vocal against what they perceive as Hinduphobic rhetoric, putting themselves as the victim, similar to Zionist groups who use anti-semitism to paint themselves the victim, meanwhile perpetuating war crimes against Muslims.
As someone in the yoga space, I now realize that I have heard Hindutva arguments being disseminated in the diaspora. From emphasizing Sanskrit as the only authentic language of yoga, to caste apologies ("it was not that bad before the British came"), this book was super helpful in understanding the historical and modern political agenda of the far-right movement in India. They have become very effective in co-opting the language of anti-racism whenever war crimes against minorities, Muslims, Kashmiris, and non-dominant caste members are called out.
All indicators suggest that a project of ethnic cleansing is well underway in India. Minorities are being squeezed under a rubric of an all-consuming Hindu majoritarian project backed by giant oligarchs and corporations that threaten to tear apart a fragile country that has never been a nation.
But Western democratic states have neither the political inclination nor the moral authority to hold Modi accountable. Delhi knows this. Meanwhile, Muslim majority countries, especially those in the Gulf, have in India an infinite resource of cheap human labor needed to build their luxury cities, a customer of energy, and now a geo-political ally.
Good job to Pluto Press for publishing Azad Essa's work. I had no idea who the author was or the publisher, but I found it while doing some research on Hindutva, and an interview with the author came up. When I spoke about it with a friend, they only had good things to say about Pluto Press, so I will definitely be keeping my eye on this publisher! (In fact, I just ordered another book from them lol).
June 7, 2026
very insightful and well-informed but as a primer on this subject
October 31, 2024
Some really horrifying stuff, an incredibly important read
August 21, 2025
Essa traces the evolution of ties from Nehru-era contacts to formal diplomatic relations with israel showing India’s escalating defense ties with Israel.
He argues that India’s BJP‑era vill association with Zionism reflects a convergence of ethnonationalist ideologies—religious majoritarianism, demographic engineering, and state violence—fueling Kashmir settlement policies modeled after Israel’s West Bank settlements
Essa draws controversial parallels: demographic re-engineering and securitization in Kashmir compared to Israeli practices in occupied Palestine. Critics question whether the deeper geopolitical and historical contexts are too dissimilar to equate
He argues that India’s BJP‑era vill association with Zionism reflects a convergence of ethnonationalist ideologies—religious majoritarianism, demographic engineering, and state violence—fueling Kashmir settlement policies modeled after Israel’s West Bank settlements
Essa draws controversial parallels: demographic re-engineering and securitization in Kashmir compared to Israeli practices in occupied Palestine. Critics question whether the deeper geopolitical and historical contexts are too dissimilar to equate
March 25, 2024
I’ve explored this topic before, in the context of a specific campaign, and this book took my understanding and commitment to this intersectional , internationalist struggle to a whole other level! I loved how the author wove both history and current dynamics together, and brought such specific, well researched examples to make arguments about parallels and differences between these ethnonationalist projects. I was especially moved by the analysis of the liberal facades that uphold Hindutva and Zionism, and the exploration of the military industrial complex and its role in the relationship between these regimes and systems. Essa briefly mentions Christian Zionism, but I think could have gone deeper on that.
September 1, 2024
a fairly informative primer on the relationship between india and israel, with a particular focus on the similarities between the occupations of palestine and kashmir (and a great introduction to kashmir in general)
April 26, 2025
an incredibly well researched and written book - but sad, devastatingly so. i hope for a better tomorrow for india, one that acts in accordance to the values we were raised with and not colonial aspirations.
July 11, 2025
Exceptional. Extremely well researched. Important analysis throughout. Anyone concerned with ethno-religious-fascism should read this book. Important critiques of how anti colonial struggles turn pear shaped using a flattening religious identity and the fear of others to build power. Highly recommend.
April 27, 2026
I didnt know much the relationship between Israel/India and this book covers the alliance starting 100 years ago and ending with an eye opening chapter on Indias occupation of Kashmir. This is a must read!
April 3, 2026
If I could give it six stars I would. Excellent book.
January 3, 2026
Super informative and very thought-provoking.
Indian independence heavyweights Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru (India’s 1st Prime Minister) tried to present a non-violent, anti-colonial, secular depiction of the new nation on the global stage. This included a flimsy but outwardly pro-Palestine stance in the 40s and the 50s. Since then, India has become less secular (fanatically and violently religious in some pockets; Gandhi, after all, was assassinated by a Hindu extremist who felt he conceded too much to Muslims) and more allied with Israel. Narendra Modi’s 2014 rise to power is emblematic of Trump’s in more ways than 1 — he ran on the slogan “India First” and preached loftily of restoring a forgotten Indian glory, specifically a Hindu Indian glory, eerily similar to MAGA. This transition to an aggressively Hindu, pro-Israel India would happen gradually over decades. The 1960s would see India orchestrate covert military meetings with Israel after Israel’s victory in the Six Day War of 1967 — the goal being to deploy Israeli strategy and intelligence in India’s border conflicts with China and Pakistan. Arms and surveillance technologies began to secretly flow to India in the 60s and 70s, which today is Israel’s number 1 arms buyer. Modi and Netanyahu are public friends in today’s foreign policy scene. 2021 also saw the beginning of the Western Quad, or I2U2 (Israel-India-United States-United Arab Emirates). This last point is yet another fruit of a very deliberate Indian foreign policy goal, one dating back years to the end of the Cold War and the rise of the U.S. as the world’s biggest superpower. Delhi sought to get close to Washington, and with Washington and Tel Aviv so closely allied, an India-Israel alliance provided a perfect way forward.
Accompanying the growing alliance between India and Israel was the growth and proliferation of Hindutva, a Hindu nationalist philosophy coined by VD Savarkar (in some ways the Theodore Herzl of Hindutva I would venture to say) in 1923. Hindutva beckoned Hindus of all castes to put aside class differences (enforced, of course, by Hinduism) and unite under the flag of a Hindu India allegedly under attack from Muslim invaders. The irony is rich — the large number of Hindus who were oppressed and marginalized as lower caste members were called to suddenly embrace the religion that attacked their very freedom. Hindutva, of course, has most fervent support among the upper caste Hindus who were always the beneficiaries of Hinduism. Early preachers of Hindutva looked to Zionism and the Zionist state as a philosophical and practical model to follow. The philosophies share an Islamophobic core in their advocacy for their respective religious states. Both employ (although one more aggressively than the other) extensive diaspora politics to drum up global support from Jews and Hindus not living in Israel and India respectively. We learn of the iron strength and suffocating control of the pro-Israel lobby in the United States, which has influenced literal foreign policy as well as abundant domestic and local policy. The Hindu nationalist lobby looked to this as a model for how to leverage diaspora politics in support of a Hindu ethnostate, weaponizing the “Hindhuphobic” accusation at any dissenters who name the evils of an increasingly fascistic, religiously intolerant India.
Finally, the book discusses the territory of Kashmir, a dominantly Muslim territory wanting sovereignty post partition and today the most militarized region on Earth. If not sovereignty, the Kashmiris would have preferred to join the newly formed Pakistani state, but India’s first prime minister Nehru, in his stubborn fondness for the region of his birthplace, ensured that it unwillingly went to India under a tenuous semi-autonomous clause that allowed it a special status. This was Nehru’s attempt at appeasing the Kashmiris. In 2019, Modi repealed this legal semi-autonomy and effectively annexed the region. Today, it is subject to heavy surveillance, corporate infringement of individual property rights, stifling militarization (by way of Israeli weaponry), and a violent repression of anti-Hindutva and anti-Hindu nationalist rhetoric. Laws were passed allowing Hindus from anywhere in India to buy property in Kashmir, signaling the Indian government’s intention to ethnically cleanse the region of its native Muslim population. A number of parallels are made to occupied Palestine, both in the settler-colonial politics of the oppressor and also in the resulting damage and devastation to the rightful occupants of the land.
The “homeland” is truly hostile beyond our bloodiest, most violent conception. Super important read for all disapora Indians.
Indian independence heavyweights Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru (India’s 1st Prime Minister) tried to present a non-violent, anti-colonial, secular depiction of the new nation on the global stage. This included a flimsy but outwardly pro-Palestine stance in the 40s and the 50s. Since then, India has become less secular (fanatically and violently religious in some pockets; Gandhi, after all, was assassinated by a Hindu extremist who felt he conceded too much to Muslims) and more allied with Israel. Narendra Modi’s 2014 rise to power is emblematic of Trump’s in more ways than 1 — he ran on the slogan “India First” and preached loftily of restoring a forgotten Indian glory, specifically a Hindu Indian glory, eerily similar to MAGA. This transition to an aggressively Hindu, pro-Israel India would happen gradually over decades. The 1960s would see India orchestrate covert military meetings with Israel after Israel’s victory in the Six Day War of 1967 — the goal being to deploy Israeli strategy and intelligence in India’s border conflicts with China and Pakistan. Arms and surveillance technologies began to secretly flow to India in the 60s and 70s, which today is Israel’s number 1 arms buyer. Modi and Netanyahu are public friends in today’s foreign policy scene. 2021 also saw the beginning of the Western Quad, or I2U2 (Israel-India-United States-United Arab Emirates). This last point is yet another fruit of a very deliberate Indian foreign policy goal, one dating back years to the end of the Cold War and the rise of the U.S. as the world’s biggest superpower. Delhi sought to get close to Washington, and with Washington and Tel Aviv so closely allied, an India-Israel alliance provided a perfect way forward.
Accompanying the growing alliance between India and Israel was the growth and proliferation of Hindutva, a Hindu nationalist philosophy coined by VD Savarkar (in some ways the Theodore Herzl of Hindutva I would venture to say) in 1923. Hindutva beckoned Hindus of all castes to put aside class differences (enforced, of course, by Hinduism) and unite under the flag of a Hindu India allegedly under attack from Muslim invaders. The irony is rich — the large number of Hindus who were oppressed and marginalized as lower caste members were called to suddenly embrace the religion that attacked their very freedom. Hindutva, of course, has most fervent support among the upper caste Hindus who were always the beneficiaries of Hinduism. Early preachers of Hindutva looked to Zionism and the Zionist state as a philosophical and practical model to follow. The philosophies share an Islamophobic core in their advocacy for their respective religious states. Both employ (although one more aggressively than the other) extensive diaspora politics to drum up global support from Jews and Hindus not living in Israel and India respectively. We learn of the iron strength and suffocating control of the pro-Israel lobby in the United States, which has influenced literal foreign policy as well as abundant domestic and local policy. The Hindu nationalist lobby looked to this as a model for how to leverage diaspora politics in support of a Hindu ethnostate, weaponizing the “Hindhuphobic” accusation at any dissenters who name the evils of an increasingly fascistic, religiously intolerant India.
Finally, the book discusses the territory of Kashmir, a dominantly Muslim territory wanting sovereignty post partition and today the most militarized region on Earth. If not sovereignty, the Kashmiris would have preferred to join the newly formed Pakistani state, but India’s first prime minister Nehru, in his stubborn fondness for the region of his birthplace, ensured that it unwillingly went to India under a tenuous semi-autonomous clause that allowed it a special status. This was Nehru’s attempt at appeasing the Kashmiris. In 2019, Modi repealed this legal semi-autonomy and effectively annexed the region. Today, it is subject to heavy surveillance, corporate infringement of individual property rights, stifling militarization (by way of Israeli weaponry), and a violent repression of anti-Hindutva and anti-Hindu nationalist rhetoric. Laws were passed allowing Hindus from anywhere in India to buy property in Kashmir, signaling the Indian government’s intention to ethnically cleanse the region of its native Muslim population. A number of parallels are made to occupied Palestine, both in the settler-colonial politics of the oppressor and also in the resulting damage and devastation to the rightful occupants of the land.
The “homeland” is truly hostile beyond our bloodiest, most violent conception. Super important read for all disapora Indians.
April 23, 2025
Everyone read this TODAY
February 4, 2024
Phenomenal book, learned a lot. very fact based and objective.
November 2, 2024
A great overview of India’s relationship to Israel across history and how Hindutva has been shaped by Zionism. The book is very India centric, and not a great introduction to Zionism. But would highly recommend as an introduction to Hindutva, for leftist south Asians, folks interested in worldwide impact of Zionism, or the global rise of fascism and ethno-states. It’s also pretty accessible and a fairly short read. It did leave me curious about digging deeper into a lot of the stories and influences mentioned, but I appreciate the broad overview here and I learned a ton.
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January 21, 2026i’m a bit disappointed by this book actually. obv i learnt some things — how india’s initial support of palestine was not out of solidarity but purely out of self interest in gaining social capital and arab support. also the fact that israel and india must BOTH légitimise each other by making themselves protectors of fabricated ancient civilisations against the threat of imaginary polluting muslims. deconstruction of one narrative also deconstructs the other.
HOWEVER. this simultaneously felt so entry level and yet entirely unexplained. i don’t know if it’s bc i’m indian and i have some exposure to the events he’s talking about but if i hadn’t, i wouldn’t have found out through this book. i picked this up to learn more about kashmir (the strongest parallel to palestine within indian context) but it feels barely mentioned. i think i wanted this to deepen my level of knowledge but, either bc ive alr consumed lit on the topic or bc that isn’t the intention of this book, it didn’t. probably still a decent read for someone wanting to hop into this knowledge pool but u gotta be willing to pull up wikipedia tabs on the side
HOWEVER. this simultaneously felt so entry level and yet entirely unexplained. i don’t know if it’s bc i’m indian and i have some exposure to the events he’s talking about but if i hadn’t, i wouldn’t have found out through this book. i picked this up to learn more about kashmir (the strongest parallel to palestine within indian context) but it feels barely mentioned. i think i wanted this to deepen my level of knowledge but, either bc ive alr consumed lit on the topic or bc that isn’t the intention of this book, it didn’t. probably still a decent read for someone wanting to hop into this knowledge pool but u gotta be willing to pull up wikipedia tabs on the side
April 26, 2025
This book is proof of how the ties between India and Israel have only one aim, genocide and occupation. The twin ideologies of Israel and India are backed by the US institutions ensuring that the victims of these ideologies are wiped out.
Through arms deals and support for the acts these nations commit, their position remains free from dissenting powers. Using tactics tried and tested by Israel Palestine, India occupies Kashmir to fulfil their dream of a Hindu ethno-national state.
A story of two occupations (while not similar in story) but following the same genocidal ideologies. A must-read in today's time.
Through arms deals and support for the acts these nations commit, their position remains free from dissenting powers. Using tactics tried and tested by Israel Palestine, India occupies Kashmir to fulfil their dream of a Hindu ethno-national state.
A story of two occupations (while not similar in story) but following the same genocidal ideologies. A must-read in today's time.
May 12, 2025
so clear, lucid, and to the point. a critical read especially in our current moment
May 23, 2025
every Indian and Indian in diaspora should read this book, especially the last chapter. Kashmir has not and will never belong to India and all Indians standing in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle must also stand in solidarity with the Kashmiri struggle for self determination
March 5, 2025
Great points, though I wish more of the claims and statistics had sources I could follow up on.
Not going to change your mind much if you're not already politically aligned with Palestinian and Kashmiri causes. The writing gets a bit prosey at times. Felt that it could have been more concise to hit harder.
Not going to change your mind much if you're not already politically aligned with Palestinian and Kashmiri causes. The writing gets a bit prosey at times. Felt that it could have been more concise to hit harder.
March 29, 2026
informative, sensible
April 20, 2025
This book is an excellent case study in public versus private diplomacy. Essa uses archival research, news articles and original interviews to detail some of the backdoor deals between Israel and India, why they might have happened, and how private relationships can shift to more public ones. He also offers descriptions of the formation of each state (Israel and India), nationalist ideology (Zionism and Hindutva), and occupation (Palestine and Kashmir), analyzing their similarities and sometimes their differences. It is meticulously researched and will no doubt be used as an important tool.
I do think this book could have benefitted from a more robust introduction that framed each of the (somewhat disparate) themes together. The threads are there, but they could have been woven in a more strongly articulated way. For example, why is the relationship between India and Israel uniquely important to consider, as opposed to either state’s relationships with China or the UAE? The West Asia Quad could have provided a compelling hook for such an introduction.
I do think this book could have benefitted from a more robust introduction that framed each of the (somewhat disparate) themes together. The threads are there, but they could have been woven in a more strongly articulated way. For example, why is the relationship between India and Israel uniquely important to consider, as opposed to either state’s relationships with China or the UAE? The West Asia Quad could have provided a compelling hook for such an introduction.
November 27, 2023
If you want to get a very clear sense of how intertwined relations between India and Israel are - and how far back they go! - this is an excellent resource. Essa does a terrific job tracing out the parallel histories as well as showing how those histories coalesce around ideological underpinnings. A must read for anyone who is invested in unraveling these ties.
August 20, 2023
Important and necessary read to understand how oppressive states (legally and illegally) share and transfer methods to control and oppress minorities and vulnerable groups. Moving beyond superficial explanations of violence and attacks to understand the root causes and origins
January 24, 2026
Great book detailing the relationship between India and Israel. A lot to unpack for myself personally and Essa does a great job contextualizing how boomer indians were primed for the rise of the BJP and right wing.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews