{"id":1940,"date":"2016-06-21T09:36:59","date_gmt":"2016-06-21T04:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/benjamin-netanyahu-india-israel-prime-minister\/"},"modified":"2016-06-21T09:36:59","modified_gmt":"2016-06-21T04:06:59","slug":"benjamin-netanyahu-india-israel-prime-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=1940","title":{"rendered":"What Makes Netanyahu India\u2019s Second-Favourite PM?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

B<\/span><\/p><\/div>

enjamin Netanyahu is in for quite a week. When an international superstar visits India, the excitement in the air is thicker than the <\/span>Delhi smog<\/span><\/a>. Each arrival follows a predictable arc \u2013 the airport touchdown, the \u201creal India\u201d photo-op, and the <\/span>forced socialising<\/span><\/a> with Bollywood celebrities. Through it all, social media goes wild with fans tweeting adoration for the visiting celebrity. So #ShalomNamaste BiBi, because to the patriotic Indian crowd, Netanyahu is a bigger deal than <\/span>Coldplay<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Justin Bieber<\/span><\/a> combined.<\/span>\n\nWhat is it that makes Netanyahu India\u2019s second-favourite Prime Minister? Perhaps it\u2019s the number of hugs and hand-holding he indulges in with India\u2019s most favourite PM. Netanyahu projects a similar <\/span>strongman<\/span><\/a> aura to Narendra Modi, which wins him brownie points from the <\/span>Modi faithful<\/span><\/a>. The way he uses both Israel\u2019s and India\u2019s common struggle against terrorism endears him to the crowds even further. It\u2019s like becoming friends with someone after they give you a \u201csame pinch\u201d for getting the same <\/span>dabba<\/span><\/a> at school. <\/span>\n\nFinally, the way Netanyahu pushed to move Israel\u2019s capital to Jerusalem inspired the \u201cMandir Wahi Banayenge\u201d gang, who have been desperate for someone to show them how to convert history into political currency. All of this comes together in a flamboyant India-Israel lovefest which makes Netanyahu the bhakts\u2019 travelling rock star.<\/span>\n\nForget <\/span>Ed Sheeran<\/span><\/a>, Netanyahu got a welcome that no other foreigner can boast of \u2013 an airport welcome from PM Modi himself. This immediately raised his credibility even further in the eyes of the bhakts, who saw this as the IRL version of <\/span>\u201cfollowed by PM Modi\u201d<\/span><\/a>. Now, all BiBi has to do is go through the motions for the rest of the tour, belt out his greatest hits (\u201cDesPalestino\u201d, \u201cHamastime Sadness\u201d, \u201cSix-Sided Starboy\u201d) and he\u2019s golden.<\/span>\n\nNetanyahu started his tour by signing nine MoUs between India and Israel. We can only hope that one of those MoUs was regarding protecting <\/span>Gal Gadot<\/span><\/a> from the online tharkiness of <\/span>Diljit Dosanjh<\/span><\/a>. He has six days to spend in India, where apart from Delhi, he will visit Agra, Gujarat, and <\/span>Mumbai<\/span><\/a>. He\u2019s probably going to get his real India photo-op in Agra, but the jury is out on whether the backdrop will be the Taj Mahal or the Tejo Mahalaya. Then, after breathing in a bit of Gujarat , he\u2019s going to hit up Mumbai. Word has it that the obligatory Bollywood party will be co-hosted by Anupam Kher and <\/span>Akshay Kumar<\/span><\/a>. Let\u2019s hope he fares better than <\/span>poor Eddie<\/span><\/a>, who was accosted by Bolly peeps for a variety of embarrassing selfies. <\/span>\n\nOn that note, Netanyahu will return to Israel. And the first rock star to have visited India in 2018 won\u2019t even have been a musician.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first rock star to visit India in 2018, isn\u2019t even a musician. For the patriotic Indian crowd, Netanyahu is a bigger deal than Coldplay and Justin Bieber combined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":1941,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[3886,1532,2881,19,3887,729],"class_list":["post-1940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pov","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-diljit-dosanjh","tag-hindutva","tag-india","tag-israel-prime-minister","tag-narendra-modi"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Makes Netanyahu India\u2019s Second-Favourite PM?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The first rock star to visit India in 2018, isn\u2019t even a musician. 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