India maintained the clean sheet over Pakistan in the ODI World Cup history with a seven-wicket win over the side in Ahmedabad on Saturday. This was India's record-extending 8th win over their arch-rivals at the mega event. Amid this, Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon said that he was moved by several Indians showing their "solidarity with Israel by displaying posters during the match."
Mr Gilon took to microblogging platform X, formerly Twitter, and said, "We are happy that #India emerged victorious in the #INDvsPAK match at #CWC23 and that Pakistan was unable to attribute its victory to the terrorists of Hamas." He continued, "We were really moved by Indian friends showing their solidarity with Israel by displaying posters during the match." He also shared two pictures of a man who held a poster which read "India Stands With Israel In War Against Terrorism".
This comes days after Pakistan's wicketkeeper-batsman Muhammad Rizwan attributed his team's victory against Sri Lanka in an ODI World Cup match, held on October 10, to "brothers and sisters in Gaza".
A few days ago, while appreciating the support of India and PM Narendra Modi Mr Naor Gilon metaphorically stated that so many Indians volunteered to assist Israel that they could almost form another unit of the Israel Defence Force. He also lauded PM Modi for being one of the first global leaders to give a 'clear condemnation' of the terror attack.
Speaking to ANI about the support from India, the Ambassador said, "For me, it's the point of optimism. It's very emotional. The level of support that we got, from the Prime Minister, on the same day on Saturday when the whole picture was not clear. Among the first leaders, who came out and tweeted very clear condemnation. We will never forget that".
"This is very very important. After speaking with PM Netanyahu, Modiji had another strong tweet. I got calls from Minister... who said 'We are with you'. High officials here, big businessmen here... offering any kind of help," he added.
The Envoy further expressed his gratitude for the support from the Indian people, emphasising that India-Israel relations are very "deep and emotional".
"This is only part of the picture, regular Indians. Look at the social media of the embassy. It's amazing, I think I could have another IDF with the volunteers. Everyone is telling me, I want to volunteer, I want to fight for Israel," he added.
