PM gifts replicas of Kerala relics to Netanyahu
of the Indian community in Israel. Indians from all over the country have registered to attend the event at the Exhibition Grounds here.
The Indian community in Israel is eager to listen to Modi, who on Tuesday became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel.
About 6,000 people of India-origin would be attending the event with many “overjoyed” and “proud” that their dream of hosting a premier in Israel has come true.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would also be joining Modi for the event. The Israeli premier has accompanied Modi almost like a shadow since he landed with both of them hugging each other at every possible opportunity.
The two leaders have also constantly referred to each other as “my friend” and used superlatives while appreciating each other.
“I have always proudly announced to people in Israel that ours was the only country where there was no trace of antisemitism. I would tell critics of India who would point at India’s support for the Palestinians that I am a proud Jew from India,” said a 74-year-old Eliyahu Yosef.
Israel is also hosting a few thousand caregivers from India who are employed in looking after elderly people.
A group of 10 caregivers from Kerala, nine of them women, with no prior training in dance, will also be performing at the community event after having trained over the last two weeks by choreographer Arun Stephen.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gifted his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu replicas of two sets of relics from Kerala, regarded as key artifacts of the long Jewish history in India.
Modi, who arrived in Tel Aviv on Tuesday for a three-day visit, presented the relics to Netanyahu at his home here.
They comprise two different sets of copper plates that are believed to have been inscribed in 9-10th Century, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
The first set of copper plates is a cherished relic for the Cochin Jews in India. It is regarded as a charter describing the grant of hereditary royal privileges and prerogatives by the Hindu King, Cheraman Perumal (often identified as Bhaskara Ravi Varma) to the Jewish leader Joseph Rabban.
The second set of copper plates is believed to be the earliest documentation of the history of Jewish trade with India.
These plates describe the grant of land and tax privileges by the local Hindu ruler to a church. And oversight of trade in Kollam to West Asian and Indian trading associations.