'Don't be Misled by Crude Headline': Tharoor's Blame as Ex-Israeli Envoy Gets 'Upset' with Him | Know Why

Israeli envoy Daniel Carmon is reportedly upset with Congress MP Shashi Tharoor for staying away from calling Hamas a ‘terrorist’ group. Tharoor, however, pinned the blame on media’s “crude headlines” that “distort his words”.

“Seriously, @ShashiTharoor,can you not? After decades of terror against my people, challenging the very Palestinian Authority, especially after this week’s savage slaughter of over a thousand peaceful human beings, can you not label Hamas as terrorists? Frankly, I am shocked. #HamasISIS,” Israel’s former ambassador to India Daniel Carmon posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Carmon further tagged Tharoor and said that dozens of countries, not just US and Israel, have designated Hamas as a terror organization.

Reacting to the attack by former Israeli envoy to India, Tharoor said, “All I said was that India has not issued such a designation, though others have. Undoubtedly Hamas conducted terrorist acts, which I roundly condemned.”

Carmon also shared the clip of Tharoor interview with a television channel, where he had said, “The terrorist organisation label is one to be very careful not to follow other country’s leads in this matter. The US considers Hamas a terrorist organisation, so does Israel. India has not made any such classification and I am going to stick to the Indian position.”

As the clip began going viral, Tharoor urged Carmon to not be “misled by crude headlines seeking to distort my words”. ” I feel for you and other friends in Israel at this difficult time, and hope and pray for your continued safety,” he added.

The Congress MP had a day ago said that he understands Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s solidarity to the Jewish country but termed his statement on Israel-Hamas conflict as ‘incomplete’.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Tharoor said, “While we understood the prime minister standing up for Israel showing solidarity at this time of great grief and this horror that has been visited upon them. At the same time, we felt that his statement was incomplete. Because I felt that, we needed to remember that there’s a larger issue at stake here and a reason behind all of this, which is that there is a dehumanising occupation continuing in many places.”

Tharoor added, “The people of Gaza have been imprisoned in the strip for a long time. The people of West Bank have a wall which is interfering with their normal freedom of movement and conditions of life.”

“We want both Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and dignity behind secure borders and conditions where neither has to fear for their lives at any time. Today, Israelis are fearing for their lives and Palestinians are fearing for their lives. The death toll on both sides is mounting every day. And that in my mind is not something that India welcomes in any shape or form. We want to see this matter halt and peace be restored,” the Congress MP further said.

The Israeli government is under intense public pressure to topple Hamas after its militants stormed through a border fence on Saturday and killed hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival.

Hamas said it launched its attack on Saturday because Palestinians’ suffering had become intolerable under unending Israeli military occupation and increasing settlements in the West Bank and a 16-year-long blockade in Gaza.

Militants in Gaza are holding an estimated 150 people taken hostage from Israel and have fired thousands of rockets into Israel over the past five days. In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, residents are facing ever-growing uncertainty after the territory’s only power plant ran out of fuel and shut down on Wednesday. The US announced it is working with Egypt and Israel to open up safe corridors to get civilians out of Gaza.