In a clear message to the region emphasizing the strength of their alliance, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Wednesday to work in lockstep to confront Islamist terrorism, with the Indian leader telling the Knesset in a historic address that his nation stands “firmly” with the Jewish state.

“India stands with Israel firmly with full conviction in this moment and beyond,” Modi told lawmakers during a special session in the Knesset honoring the Indian premier, the first time an Indian leader has addressed Israel’s parliament.

The two long-serving leaders have developed a famously close personal relationship — occasionally uncomfortably so — reflecting a strategic relationship that has been expanding steadily for decades.

India and Israel will build an “iron alliance” of countries “in the face of extremist Islam,” said Netanyahu, speaking ahead of Modi, who is in Israel for a two-day visit.

Netanyahu added that the two countries are together developing the IMEC initiative, a US-backed transport project that aims to connect India to Europe via the Middle East by sea and rail. “This maritime-land corridor can exist and flourish only if it passes through stable and secure countries. And there are no stronger and more secure countries on this axis than India and Israel,” he said.

The idea of creating a new regional alliance has been a recurring theme for Netanyahu of late. On Tuesday, he told the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency that Israel is working to create its own regional alliance to oppose Iranian and Muslim Brotherhood axes. “I am talking about an entire circle that encompasses the Middle East,” he told the intelligence officials.

In the Knesset on Wednesday, Modi called Israel “a protective wall against barbarism,” echoing language that Netanyahu has used when speaking to Western audiences.

“The massacre of October 7 made it absolutely clear: either the jihadist axis of evil will break us, or we will break it,” Modi continued, referring to the Hamas invasion of southern Israel in 2023 that sparked a regional war between Israel and Iran along with its armed proxies. “And we are breaking it — and will break it.”

Modi also told his hosts that “I… carry with me the deepest condolences of the people of India for every life lost and for every family whose world was shattered in the barbaric terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7.”

Netanyahu thanked Modi for his support in the aftermath of the Hamas invasion, saying, “After this murderous attack, you stood in such a clear way, so moral, so sharp… We will never forget this.”

He also praised India’s tolerance toward its ancient Jewish communities: “In a world where antisemitism is rising, India stands out — a civilization where Jews were never persecuted by the state, only welcomed. We don’t forget that, too.........

© The Times of Israel