Congress slams Israeli envoy’s remarks on Gaza; accuses Modi govt of ‘moral cowardice’

New Delhi, Aug 12 (IANS) The Indian National Congress on Tuesday sharply criticised Israel’s Ambassador to India over his response to party leader and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s remarks on the situation in Gaza, terming the envoy’s reaction “totally unacceptable.”

In a statement posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said the party “condemns the words used” by the Israeli envoy in reply to Gandhi Vadra’s expression of “pain and anguish” over Israel’s actions in Gaza.

“The Indian National Congress condemns the words used by Israel’s Ambassador to India in response to the pain and anguish expressed by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, MP, on Israel's continuing genocide in Gaza,” Ramesh said.

He accused the Narendra Modi-led government of remaining silent on the issue for nearly two years, alleging that it had shown “extreme moral cowardice” in failing to speak out against what the Congress describes as Israel’s “destruction of Gaza” over the past 18–20 months.

“It is too much to expect the Modi Govt, which has shown extreme moral cowardice when it comes to speaking out on Israel’s destruction of Gaza over the past 18-20 months, to take serious exception and objection to the Ambassador's response. We do and find it totally unacceptable,” Ramesh added.

Early in the day, Priyanka Gandhi expressed her pain over the devastating situation in Gaza, which has already killed 60,000 people, including thousands of women and children.

“The Israeli state is committing genocide. 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. 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,” she posted on X.

Reacting to this tweet, Israel’s envoy Reuven Azar termed this as “shameful deceit”.

“Israel killed 25,000 Hamas terrorists. The terrible cost in human lives derives from Hamas’s heinous tactics of hiding behind civilians, their shooting of people trying to evacuate or receive assistance and their rocket fire. Israel facilitated 2 million tonnes of food into Gaza while Hamas tries to sequester them, thereby creating hunger. The Gaza population has grown 450 per cent in the last 50 years, no genocide there. Don’t buy Hamas numbers,” the envoy said on X.

The matter later snowballed into an issue with many social media users, including politicians, and a few veterans termed this reaction of the Israeli envoy as crossing the lines of diplomatic behaviour.

--IANS

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