Ambassadors of India to Israel

Ambassador-level representation began after India and Israel normalized diplomatic relations in 1992. The office serves as India's senior diplomatic post in Israel and has been held by career diplomats who have represented India in political, economic, defense, cultural, and technological exchanges.

The published record is incomplete. Some sources establish defined periods of service, while others identify an ambassador only at the time an article was published. The entries below therefore distinguish documented tenure dates from appearances that merely confirm an individual was serving at a particular time.

India extended de jure recognition to Israel on 17 September 1950, but recognition was not accompanied by full diplomatic relations. For the next four decades, the relationship remained centered on Israel's consular representation in Bombay, now Mumbai.[1]

On 29 January 1992, India formally announced the establishment of full diplomatic relations with Israel. India opened its embassy in Tel Aviv on 15 May 1992, while Israel established its embassy in New Delhi.[1] The decision was made during Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao's tenure and led to an exchange of ambassadors.[2][4]

Pradeep Kumar Singh was India's first ambassador to Israel, presenting his credentials to President Chaim Herzog in October 1992.[3] Published sources consulted for this article do not establish the end of his posting.

Shiv Shankar Menon served as ambassador from 1995 to 1998. He later served as India's foreign secretary from 2006 to 2009 and as national security adviser from January 2010 to May 2014.[5]

Raminder Singh Jassal was identified as India's ambassador in a July 2002 report, although the source does not give the beginning or end of his posting.[6]

Arun Singh, also identified as Arun Kumar Singh, was documented as ambassador in January 2006.[7] Later American Jewish Committee reports described Arun Singh and Arun Kumar Singh as a former ambassador to both Israel and the United States but did not give tenure dates.[8][9]

Navtej Sarna was documented as India's ambassador to Israel in June 2010. The available cited report does not establish the boundaries of his posting.[10]

Jaideep Sarkar was documented in the role in August and September 2015.[11][12] Discussing efforts to preserve India's Jewish heritage, Sarkar said: "We want to tell the world proudly about the rich Jewish life in India; with your efforts we are working to preserve the Jewish heritage in India. We hope to have a package tour to Jewish heritage sites in Mumbai and elsewhere by early next year."[11]

Pavan Kapoor, an Indian Foreign Service officer since 1990 who had most recently served as India's high commissioner in Maputo, was named as Sarkar's successor in early 2016.[3] He was documented as ambassador in 2017, when he encouraged Israeli defense firms to work with Indian partners.[13] Kapoor also said India had the confidence to manage its relationships with Israel and the Palestinian Authority independently and saw no need to "hyphenate them."[14]

Sanjeev Kumar Singla took up his position as ambassador in October 2019.[15] Before the appointment, he had served as a counsellor at the Indian Embassy in Israel for an eight-month period ending in July 2014 and then became private secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.[15] A November 2020 profile identified him as ambassador and said he had been appointed the previous year.[16]

Jitender Pal Singh, also referred to as J. P. Singh, presented his credentials to President Isaac Herzog in April 2025. He described India as one of Israel's steady partners and expressed interest in expanding economic connectivity and relations in other fields.[17] He subsequently met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.[18] Singh had previously headed India's mission in Pakistan, where he helped secure the release of an Indian woman who had been kidnapped and forced to marry; the episode was later depicted in the film The Diplomat.[19]

The exchange of ambassadors provided an institutional channel for a rapidly expanding bilateral relationship. A 2016 cooperation agreement between Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Reliance Defense was described as building on more than twenty years of full diplomatic relations.[20]

In 2017, Narendra Modi became the first Indian prime minister to make a state visit to Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reciprocated by arriving in New Delhi on 14 January 2018.[21] In January 2019, Israeli national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat traveled from Tel Aviv to New Delhi on a direct Air India flight enabled by an unprecedented permit for Israel-bound flights to cross Saudi airspace, an episode presented as a sign of how far relations had developed since normalization.[22]

Published sources do not provide a complete chronological roster or consistent start and end dates for most postings. A 2018 commentary referred to "Kavan Kapoor" as India's eighth ambassador since full diplomatic relations were established in 1992 but did not identify the preceding seven ambassadors.[23] The spelling differs from the "Pavan Kapoor" used by other sources.

Sources also use both "Arun Singh" and "Arun Kumar Singh" for a former ambassador to Israel and the United States.[8][9] Jaideep Sarkar's given name appears as "Jadeep" in one report and "Jaideep" in others.[3][11] These variants do not establish that different people held the posts, and the available evidence remains insufficient for a definitive succession list.