"India Has Major Role To Play": Israeli Minister On Peace In Middle East

A strategic partnership with Israel, India and the US is critical in pushing prosperity and peace in the Middle East, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel Sharren Haskel said.

Speaking to NDTV, Haskel said that "India is part of the good guys. It is a part of the forces that can stabilise. India is a major component of the military effort. I think it has a major role to play in stability, in pushing prosperity and peace in the region."

She said that Israel had pursued a diplomatic path from the beginning, however, Iran "deceived the world" and broke the agreements signed with them.

"PM Modi and PM Netanyahu bond shows shared values": Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel Sharren Haskel (@SharrenHaskel) to @shivaroor ahead of PM Modi's address at Knesset pic.twitter.com/I5trw0OBvK

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 25, 2026

Hasked said that US President Donald Trump's diplomatic channel is heading the right way and might lead to a good result. However, she expressed scepticism and said Iranians are just buying time.

"They call for the elimination of America. They call for the elimination of Israel. And so I'm not sure that tomorrow in the talks in Geneva, the Iranian will actually agree to a deal like that. I wish there would have been a diplomatic path," she said.

Speaking about the protests in Iran and the subsequent killings of protesters, she said, "Iran is choosing a path of war. Look at what they've done internally in their own country, where peaceful demonstrators went out and marched in the streets just to ask for their liberty and their freedom. Little children who were shot dead by the IRGC forces, teenagers, young people. 35,000 people were butchered on the streets."

"If they can do that to their own people, try and think what they're capable of doing to their enemies," she added.

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first day of his two-day visit to Israel, he received a rousing welcome from his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, and from the Indian community in Israel. He received a standing ovation at the Knesset, which he, as the only Indian prime minister, addressed.