Embassy of Israel, New Delhi

The Embassy of Israel in New Delhi serves as Israel's primary diplomatic representation in India and is accredited to Bhutan.[6] Its address is 3, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Road, New Delhi 110011.[10] The mission is approximately 500 metres from the Indian prime minister's residence and is near the capital's diplomatic enclave.[1][11]

In 2017, Israel's diplomatic network in India included consulates in Mumbai and Bengaluru in addition to the New Delhi embassy.[4] As of a 2024 report, the Foreign Trade Administration of Israel's Ministry of Economy and Industry operated three economic offices in India: New Delhi covered northern and eastern India, Mumbai covered the west and center, and Bangalore covered the south.[5] By 1997, the mission was listed in a directory under the name "Embassy of Israel in Delhi."[12]

India recognized Israel in 1950, and in 1952 agreed to the opening of an Israeli consulate in Bombay.[2] For four decades thereafter, India did not upgrade the relationship to full ambassadorial ties. A January 1978 meeting record shows Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai telling U.S. President Jimmy Carter that establishing relations with Israel before peace was achieved would mean losing influence with Arab countries. Desai said India recognized Israel only informally at that stage.[13]

A Jerusalem Center account says that in 1979 Desai secretly invited Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan to India. Dayan and Foreign Minister A. B. Vajpayee discussed establishing full diplomatic relations and an Israeli embassy in New Delhi, or alternatively upgrading the Bombay consulate, but no agreement followed.[2] In an account of his December 1981 meeting with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Jewish leader Isi Leibler wrote that the Israeli consul in Bombay required special approval to travel elsewhere in India and that the government sought to assure Arab states that the consulate did not represent a serious diplomatic relationship.[14]

Former Israeli diplomat Mark Regev has written that the 1991 Madrid Middle East peace conference directly influenced New Delhi's decision to upgrade relations.[15] Full diplomatic ties were established on January 29, 1992, under Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao.[2] Shortly thereafter, Israeli consul Giora Becher moved from Bombay to New Delhi and opened the Israeli embassy there within weeks; India opened its embassy in Tel Aviv on May 15, 1992.[16] A diplomatic-missions listing dates the New Delhi embassy to January 1992 and describes the status of relations as "Upgrading."[3] By 1997, the mission appeared in a directory as the Embassy of Israel in Delhi.[12]

In 2003, Israel's Foreign Ministry closed its consulate in Mumbai as part of a budget-cutting plan expected to save approximately $5 million annually across five missions. Israeli travelers who had relied on the Mumbai consulate were directed to the embassy in New Delhi for consular services.[17] The consulate was subsequently reopened; by 2017, both Mumbai and Bengaluru again had Israeli consular representation.[4]

On December 12, 2020, the embassy hosted the exchange of diplomatic notes establishing relations between Israel and Bhutan. Israeli Ambassador Ron Malka and Bhutanese Ambassador Major General Vetsop Namgyel signed the documents, and Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi welcomed the agreement as a step toward strengthening Israel's ties with Asia.[6]

New Delhi has a small Jewish community comprising a handful of Bene Israel families, supplemented by Israeli and American diplomats and businesspeople. Regular prayers are held at the local synagogue, and the embassy assists the community with its Passover Seder.[18] This gives the mission a communal and religious role alongside its formal diplomatic and consular responsibilities.

The embassy has served as a hub for a wide range of cooperative activities between Israel and India. In January 2001, following a devastating earthquake in western India, the embassy and Israel's Foreign Ministry coordinated the arrival of an Israeli aid mission to the Bhuj area of Gujarat. The mission, dispatched after an Indian request, consisted of approximately 150 personnel traveling in five Israeli Air Force aircraft and included a field hospital, doctors, medical staff, and equipment. Ambassador David Afek and Bombay Consul-General Dov Segev-Steinberg received the mission and coordinated local deployment of the field hospital.[19]

In 2017, the embassy's Economic and Trade Department, represented by its head Barak Granot, participated in an exhibition at New Delhi's exhibition grounds where ten Israeli companies presented technologies in water improvement, smart-city management, and environmentally friendly construction. Granot noted that Indian authorities were planning investment in 107 smart cities and that the exhibition could help Israeli civilian companies gain a foothold in the Indian market.[20]

In July 2020, an Israeli delegation led by Ambassador Ron Malka traveled to India for trials of four rapid COVID-19 diagnostic technologies. The project operated under the auspices of Israel's Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Health, and included military, medical, and technical personnel. Indian authorities assigned 100 local professionals to support the trials and additional personnel to establish testing centers, with the collaboration expected to enable collection of tens of thousands of samples within ten days.[21]

Also in 2020, Natasha Zangin served as head of the Economic and Commercial Mission at the Embassy of Israel to New Delhi. She described the mission's work as helping Israeli companies explore the Indian market and connect with Indian firms, including through online meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic, and estimated that approximately 3.5% of all Israeli trade was conducted with India.[22]

In December 2019, Israeli consul in New Delhi Yaakov Rosh assisted a 22-year-old Israeli traveler caught in civil unrest in Assam. After communications in the region were shut down, Rosh located the local police commander and persuaded him to dispatch officers to the traveler's location; police transferred her and a German tourist to safety without injury.[23]

To mark 30 years of India-Israel diplomatic ties, the embassy collaborated with Delhi Street Art and the New Delhi Municipal Council to create a mural in Connaught Place commemorating Iraqi-Jewish Bollywood actresses Pramila, Sulochana, and Nadira. Israeli Ambassador Naor Gilon and Indian Minister Meenakshi Lekhi unveiled the mural of Nadira.[24] The project connected the mission's cultural diplomacy with the history of Jewish participation in Indian cinema.

The mission's security history includes the 2012 bombing of an embassy vehicle and explosions near the embassy in 2021 and 2023. Reporting on the latter incidents treated the intended target and responsibility as matters under investigation.[8][9]

February 13, 2012 Bombing

On February 13, 2012, a bomb attached to a vehicle belonging to the Israeli Embassy exploded as it was driven away from the building. Tali Yehoshua-Koren, wife of the Israeli defense attaché, was traveling to collect her children from school when a motorcyclist attached a magnetized device to the car; the blast injured her, her driver, and bystanders.[7] She escaped more serious injury by jumping clear of the burning vehicle.[1]

Casualty accounts varied. The International Institute for Counter-Terrorism reported that two passers-by were hurt in addition to Yehoshua-Koren.[1] The U.S. Department of State's 2012 Country Reports on Terrorism described her as seriously injured along with three Indian nationals.[11] An Israeli news account reported that Israel's Foreign Ministry initially said there were no additional casualties beyond Yehoshua-Koren, while India's Home Ministry reported four people injured.[25]

An Indian journalist, Syed Mohammed Kazmi, was arrested on suspicion of involvement, and arrest warrants were later issued naming four Iranian nationals.[1] Congressional testimony subsequently reported that Indian police identified Iranian national Houshang Afshar Irani as the assailant and that U.S. counterterrorism officials tied the wider set of plots to Iran and the Quds Force; the testimony did not present a judicial finding.[7]

The same day, an attempted attack against an Israeli diplomat in Tbilisi, Georgia, was foiled when an embassy worker noticed a bomb attached to his car before it detonated.[26] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attributed both incidents to Iran and Hezbollah, though these were his stated attributions rather than judicially established findings.[25]

January 29, 2021 Blast

A small improvised explosive device detonated several meters from the embassy shortly after 17:00 local time on January 29, 2021, the anniversary of the establishment of full diplomatic relations. Several nearby vehicles were damaged, but no injuries occurred, and the embassy building and compound were undamaged. The mission was closed at the time, with only on-call staff present.[8]

Two groups using the names "SarAllah India Hezbollah" and "Jaish ul-Hind" claimed responsibility, and a handwritten letter addressed to the ambassador was found at the scene. Reporting cautioned that the claims were suspicious and that authorities had not identified the perpetrators.[27]

Ambassador Ron Malka said the blast was very close to the mission and that he understood it as a terrorist act aimed at the embassy, while acknowledging that the perpetrators could not yet be identified with certainty and that Iran was one possibility under investigation.[28] The Times of Israel later reported that India attributed the attack to the Quds Force branch of the IRGC; this remained an attributed finding rather than a conclusion independently established by that source.[29]

December 26, 2023 Explosion

Another explosion occurred near the embassy in New Delhi's diplomatic neighborhood on December 26, 2023. Israel's Foreign Ministry confirmed that there were no injuries, that all Israeli emissaries and embassy employees were safe, and that local authorities were investigating in full cooperation with Israeli security officials.[9]

The Times of Israel reported that a letter addressed to Ambassador Naor Gilon was found near the scene, while noting that investigators had not established a connection between the letter and the blast.[29] Israel assessed the incident as a possible attack, and the circumstances remained under investigation.[9]