NEW DELHI: Indian politicians are demanding action against the Israeli ambassador in Delhi following his verbal attack on Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi.
Gandhi, a lawmaker from the opposition Congress party, who is the daughter of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and sister of Rahul Gandhi — leader of the opposition — wrote on social media on Tuesday that “the Israeli state is committing genocide” in Gaza.
“It has murdered over 60,000 people, 18,430 of whom were children. It has starved hundreds to death including many children and is threatening to starve millions,” she said, calling out the Indian government over its inaction.
“Enabling these crimes by silence and inaction is a crime in itself. It is shameful that the Indian Government stands silent as Israel unleashes this devastation on the people of Palestine.”
The post was almost immediately responded to by Reuven Azar, Israel’s ambassador to India, who told Gandhi: “What is shameful is your deceit.”
The post triggered outrage among Congress members, with the party’s spokesperson Supriya Shrinate demanding that the Indian government act over the envoy’s “casting aspersions” on Gandhi.
“He should be officially made to apologize. She is a member of parliament, she is an elected representative, and how dare the Israeli ambassador talk to her in that tone. The government should take this up in no uncertain terms,” Shrinate told Arab News.
“We seek an unconditional apology for the use of tone and words that the Israeli ambassador has used, and the reality is that the world is watching what Israel is doing in Gaza.”
Priyanka Chaturvedi, an MP and spokesperson of the Shiv Sena (UBT) party, said inaction from the Ministry of External Affairs would only embolden foreign diplomats “to speak to Indian parliamentarians in this tone and tenor in their own country.
“This is unacceptable,” she wrote on X. “Hope Ministry of External Affairs reprimands this Hon. Ambassador.”
For Gaurav Gogoi, a Congress lawmaker from Assam, “the disparaging comments made by a foreign Ambassador against a Member of Parliament of India is a serious breach of privilege,” he said in an X post, urging Parliament to take action if the government does not respond.
The government in New Delhi has largely remained quiet since Israel launched its deadly assault on Gaza in October 2023.
But India’s civil society and the opposition are increasingly speaking up against Israeli war crimes.
Pawan Khera, chairman of the Congress party’s publicity department, called on External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to address the Israeli ambassador’s “public attempt to intimidate” Gandhi.
“That the ambassador of a state accused of genocide worldwide would target a sitting Member of the Indian Parliament is both unprecedented and intolerable. It is a direct affront to the dignity of Indian democracy,” he wrote on X.
Khera also addressed the envoy directly: “No amount of deflection or whitewashing can obscure the facts. The international community is witnessing, in real time, the killing of civilians in Gaza — including those queuing for aid. The world sees the heartbreaking images emerging from Gaza every day. It will neither forget nor forgive.”
