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Following Hamas' announcement that it intends to delay the next release of Israeli hostages planned for Saturday, Nir Barkat, Minister of Economy of Israel, called the group a "terrorist organisation," stating that their goal is the destruction of Israel.
Barkat further emphasised the need to ensure that Gaza does not remain under Hamas' control. While speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the India-Israel Business Forum event in New Delhi on Tuesday, Barkat said, "Hamas is a terror organisation, the jihadists. Their goal is destruction of the state of Israel and the jihadist by the way, are not only considering jews and Israel. We are all on the same line. All non-Muslims are their target and Israel has no choice but to make sure Hamas does not stay and govern Gaza because they want to do October 7 again and again and again." He added, "...Seventy-six hostages are still left. We have to bring them back home. We have to make sure that Hamas does not survive after this war for the benefit not only of the future Israelis but for the benefit of the world." On the India-Israel Business Forum, Barkat told reporters, "I was invited to India by Minister Piyush Goyal. We discussed the huge business opportunities that India and Israel have together. Geopolitics makes Israel very close to the US but also very close to India..." "I see India scaling very rapidly to become a very dominant global player. Israel, though small, is very innovative... I am leading the biggest-ever delegation from Israel to any country in the world... I am very optimistic that we will be able to find the solution and scale the economies make the lives of Indians and Israelis much better..." he added. Meanwhile, Ambassador of Israel to India, Reuven Azar praised Israeli business leaders for their resilience and support during the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and acknowledged their efforts in contributing to Israel's war effort while maintaining the country's economic growth. While addressing the event, Azar said, "The Israeli business leaders came here today, they came here energised, they came after sixteen months in which they directly and indirectly supported the war effort while at the same time, keeping the economy of Israel growing despite the war. So, I want to thank all the Israeli entrepreneurs who came here today." "They don't have time to waste, they came here because they realised and identified that India is a rising power, that India is the right place to be at this time and together, we have to secure geopolitically our supply chains and second, we have to win in the race for global competition...," Azar added. Avi Balashnikov, Chairman of the Board Israel Export Institute, referred the visit of the Israeli business delegation to India as "historic and unique." Speaking with ANI on the sidelines of the India-Israel Business Forum event, Balashnikov said, "This is the largest and the biggest businessmen delegation from Israel to India led by the Minister of Economy and Industry. It's tremendous, it's unique, and we are waiting now that soon, a huge delegation from India will come to visit Israel again, and we hope that the Minister of Economy here in India will lead this delegation. He added, "The cooperation between two countries has increased in many fields like high tech, agriculture, health..." Notably, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, and the Embassy of Israel, in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), organised the India-Israel Business Forum on Tuesday. A high-level Israeli business delegation, led by Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry Barkat participated in the forum. The delegation included leading Israeli enterprises and representatives from sectors such as technology, manufacturing, healthcare, agri-tech, food processing, defence, homeland security, water management, logistics, and retail. (ANI)
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