- PM Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Israel does not face delegitimisation in India
- Netanyahu claimed India shows "crazy" support for Israel and has many followers there
- He described his 2018 visit to India as a "love fest"
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to leave no opportunity to highlight his bond with India and claim New Delhi's support for Tel Aviv. Speaking at a conference in the West Bank on Thursday, Netanyahu talked about Israel's "unique relationship" with a "huge power" called India.
"We have problems with delegitimisation in much of the world, but not in India," Netanyahu stated during his address. "In India, there is an absolutely crazy support for Israel, truly crazy."
"I think there are more followers from India than anywhere else," he added.
This is not the first time Netanyahu has boasted about his popularity in India. He termed his last visit to New Delhi with his wife, Sara, in 2018 a "love fest" and claimed that Indians have "enormous respect" for Israel.
"There are places where Israel is still respected. India has 1.4 billion people, and Israel is very popular there. PM Modi was greeted with great affection here. And I went to India with my wife, and it was a love fest," he said during CBS News' 60 Minutes programme.
The Israeli PM's remarks came amid reports of declining popularity, especially among Americans. According to the latest recent Pew Research Center survey released in April, 60% of US adults have an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 53% last year.
More than half of US adults (59%) have little or no confidence in Netanyahu to do the right thing regarding world affairs - up from 52% last year.
Netanyahu has blamed Pakistan for a dip in his fame. In the same interview he accused Pakistan of using social media bot farms to promote anti-Israel sentiment in the US public opinion.
"Countries that want to weaken the American-Israeli alliance are manipulating social media with bot farms," he claimed.
"They post like, 'I'm a red-blooded Texan who supported Israel, but now I can't stand them.' Then you check, and it's a guy sitting in a BASEMENT in Pakistan," the leader added.
