PM Modi's Israel Visit 'Not a Good Sign For Gandhi’s Nation': Mehbooba Mufti
The former J&K CM said hugging and speaking with a "criminal" by PM Modi "is not a good sign for our nation".
Published : February 26, 2026 at 5:31 PM IST
Srinagar: Amid Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi's visit to Israel, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said that the visit of the prime minister is against the policy of “our nation” and the PM should not have met the Israeli PM who is indicted by the International Court of Justice.
“The whole world is against the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. The International Court of Justice has indicted him as a criminal and he cannot visit many countries as he can be arrested. So, against this backdrop, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who represents 140 crore people, hugging and speaking with a criminal is not a good sign for our nation, the nation of Gandhi,” Mehbooba told reporters in Anantnag when asked for comment about the visit.
PM Modi also faced criticism by National Conference Member of Parliament Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, from the ruling party, for his visit to Israel. “No, not my greetings. Give them my curses for their illegal occupation of Palestine and the genocide in Gaza,” Mehdi wrote on X, responding to the Modi's greetings to Israel. Modi shared his speech to the Knesset on X with the caption, “I bring with me the greetings of 1.4 billion Indians and a message of friendship, respect and partnership.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a two-day visit to Israel, which began on Wednesday. Modi and Netanyahu are expected to sign several key agreements. Modi addressed the Knesset and visited Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. He also addressed the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, during his visit.
Congress, the main opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party, also criticized Modi for his address to the Israeli Parliament, saying it was an "unabashed defence of his host," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The opposition party also recalled India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru's July 1947 reply to Albert Einstein's letter regarding the creation of Israel. Addressing the Knesset on Wednesday, Modi described the Gaza Peace Initiative as a path towards "just and durable peace" in the region.
Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, denounced the speech in a post on X. "In his address to the Knesset yesterday — which was an unabashed defence of his host — Prime Minister Modi drew attention to the fact that India recognised the new state of Israel on the day he was born," he said.
He then cited Nehru's views on the creation of Israel from his letter to Einstein. "Here is Nehru's reply to Einstein a month later. On November 5, 1949, the two had met at Einstein's home in Princeton. In November 1952, Einstein was offered the Presidency of Israel which he declined," Ramesh recalled.
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