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by Kobbi Shoshani (Author)
The book was written out of deep love and great respect for India. It is a social odyssey moving between India and Israel through history, culture, politics, and society. The similarities between the two countries will leave the reader astonished by how closely they mirror each other, despite the vast differences in population size and geography. Like India, Israel was under British rule and inherited its bureaucracy, legal principles, and even architectural influences. But the desire for self-rule led to resistance-sometimes violent-until independence, which Israel achieved nine months after India.
The struggle against British rule also produced political differences within both nations. Each experienced a bloody partition shaped by British policy, leading to divisions between Right and left, and between secularism and the preservation of ancient traditions. India's Congress Party parallels Israel's Labor Party, which ruled Israel for more than three decades with a firm hand. However, Nehru's and Gandhi's attitudes toward Israel and Zionism were cold and distant.
I dedicate a special chapter to Indira Gandhi, who reminds me greatly of Prime Minister Golda Meir. Both were patriotic leaders who were among the first women to stand at the helm of a nation-although this phenomenon did not repeat itself, neither in India nor in Israel. Both women were also tragic figures. While Gandhi rode a wave of success after the war with Pakistan, Golda was forced to resign after the Yom Kippur War.
I analyze the state of emergency declared by Gandhi in the 1970s in light of the current debate over the status of the Supreme Court in Israel-an issue that tears Israeli society and highlights the deepening polarization between right and left. I also devote an important and fascinating chapter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing how an Israeli diplomat views the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the changes he introduced in Kashmir. Another chapter presents the Indian conglomerates from a surprising angle and even touches on the ambiguity of India's nuclear policy. For non-Indian readers, I briefly explain Hinduism using concepts drawn from the Bible and Jewish philosophy.
The book is also a deeply personal journey, beginning in 1970s Jerusalem with its seven ancient gates.
