It couldn’t have happened at a more appropriate time than now to show it’s solidarity with India by declaring Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) a terrorist organisation. To mark the 15th anniversary of the deadly terror attacks, Israel clarified it’s stand against the terrorist organisation, although there was no such request from India.
A press release issued by Israeli embassy said Tel Aviv had listed Lashkar-e-Taiba as a “terror organisation” to mark the “15th year of commemoration of the Mumbai terror attacks”. It described the LeT as “deadly and reprehensible terror organization, responsible for the murder of hundreds of Indian civilians as well as others. Its heinous actions on November 26, 2008 still reverberate in force, through all peace seeking nations and societies”.
Ten members of the LeT terror group had entered the city of Mumbai on the night of November 26, 2008. Over the course of four days, they killed 166 people and injured 300. One of the locations targeted by the terrorist was a Chabad centre at Nariman House. Four Israeli citizens were killed in the attacks.
#WATCH | Mumbai: Ahead of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks’ anniversary, Devika Rotawan says, “I was shot. My father, brother, and I were about to go to Pune… We went to CST railway station… Soon a blast was there, and firing started. People started running… I saw a person… pic.twitter.com/57uuxoAcls
— ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2023
In a press note, it said, “Despite not being requested by the Government of India to do so, the state of Israel has formally completed all necessary procedures and has satisfied all required checks and regulations to the result of introducing Lashkar-e-Taiba into the Israeli list of illegal terror organisations.”
The embassy stated that the Israel “only lists terror organisations who are actively operating against it from within or around its borders, or in a similar manner to India – those globally recognised by UNSC or the US state department”. The LeT had been listed as a terror group by the UN Security Council’s panel in 2005.
The press readout noted that the Israeli ministries of defence and foreign affairs “jointly worked in the last few months towards an expedited and extraordinary listing of the Lashkar-e-Taiba organization on this date, to highlight the importance of a Unified Global Front in combating terrorism”.
Israel’s move comes at a time when it has asked India to proscribe Hamas as a terrorist outfit.US, UK, European Union, Canada, Australia, Japan are among the countries and groupings that have designated Hamas as a terror outfit. India has condemned the October 7 attacks as “terrorist attacks”, but has not named Hamas in its official statements.
For India, listing Hamas as a terrorist outfit is a complicated affair since it has to be mindful of interests and sensitivities on the other sides – Arab world, Iran and many in the Global South. New Delhi is trying to balance the different sides in the conflict, with Israel on one side and the Muslim-majority countries on the other side – Saudi Arabia to Iran, the entire polarised spectrum –all of whom have been critical of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza due to Israel’s military offensive – in different ways. In this context, New Delhi’s diplomatic tightrope walk will be tested, when it considers the issue of Israel’s request, in lieu of LeT’s listing by Israel.
