Short answer: Yes. Narendra Modi, India's Prime Minister since 2014, has been consistently and publicly supportive of Israel, deepening a strategic partnership through visits, defense and trade ties, and personal statements of solidarity, most recently a historic address to the Knesset in February 2026. India's government simultaneously maintains a formal diplomatic position backing a Palestinian state, so the relationship is close but not exclusive. (As of August 2026.)
What Narendra Modi has actually said and done
July 4, 2017: Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel, a three-day trip marking 25 years of India-Israel diplomatic relations. He met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Moshe Holtzberg, the boy whose parents were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, according to CNN.
October 7, 2023: Hours after the Hamas attack on Israel, Modi posted on X, "We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour," and separately said India "strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," per Ynet and The Diplomat.
October 2023: Despite that solidarity statement, India abstained on a UN General Assembly resolution calling for a humanitarian truce in Gaza, one sign the government balances its Israel ties against a long-standing pro-Palestinian-statehood diplomatic position. The vote is a matter of UN General Assembly record. India has abstained on several later Gaza resolutions as well.
December 12, 2024: India voted in favor of a UN General Assembly resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, alongside 157 other nations, illustrating that India's UN voting record has not been uniformly aligned with Israel's position on the war, per the Indian government outlet All India Radio (Newsonair).
February 25, 2026: Modi addressed the Israeli Knesset, the first Indian prime minister ever to do so, saying, "The friendship between Israel and India remains a source of strength in an uncertain world." He received a standing ovation after his roughly 30-minute speech, according to the Jerusalem Post.
February 26, 2026: Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana conferred Modi with the Speaker of the Knesset Medal, the Israeli parliament's highest honor, making Modi the first foreign leader ever to receive it, cited for his personal role in strengthening India-Israel ties, per the Jerusalem Post and The Sunday Guardian.
Ongoing, through 2026: India remains Israel's largest arms buyer, with defense, cyber-security, and technology cooperation cited by outlets as roughly $1 billion a year, underpinning the political relationship beyond statements, according to CNN.
The bigger picture: warmth alongside a Palestinian-statehood policy
Modi is a Hindu nationalist (BJP) leader with no personal Jewish-identity connection; the India-Israel relationship is a state-level strategic partnership, not a matter of his personal faith or heritage. India has never held or hosted an "anti-Israel boycott." On the contrary, Modi's government has expanded trade, defense, and technology ties, and no credible reporting ties Modi to BDS or boycott activity. That said, India's foreign ministry has kept a formal policy backing a two-state solution and a sovereign Palestinian state, and its UN voting record on Gaza ceasefire resolutions has swung between abstention and support depending on the resolution's text, so "supports Israel" describes Modi's warmth and strategic alignment, not an uncritical or one-sided position. Some outlets and Indian opposition politicians frame the closeness as driven partly by ideological affinity between Hindu-nationalist and Israeli right-wing politics. That is an interpretation found in commentary, not a quote from Modi himself, so it is offered here as context rather than a verified fact.
The bottom line
Narendra Modi supports Israel: he has visited twice (2017 and February 2026), addressed the Knesset (a first for any Indian prime minister), received Israel's highest parliamentary honor, and issued strong solidarity statements after October 7, 2023, all while presiding over a deep defense and trade partnership. His government has not, however, abandoned India's decades-old backing of Palestinian statehood, and its UN votes on Gaza-related resolutions have been mixed rather than uniformly pro-Israel.
Wear your own solidarity with Israel
Stories like Modi's Knesset address are a reminder that support for Israel takes many forms, from state visits to everyday, visible gestures. If you want yours to be visible, our I Stand With Israel collection lets you carry that statement with you every day.
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
