The CPI(M) has once again exposed its double standards on international issues. While party leaders in Kerala maintained complete silence when Hamas leaders addressed gatherings in the state, openly radicalising crowds and glorifying extremist violence, the same Polit Bureau has now rushed to condemn the visit of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to India.
This comes even after the Bombay High Court recently rebuked the CPI(M) for prioritising foreign conflicts over India’s own concerns. The Court had pointedly told the party to “be patriots” and raise their voices on domestic issues, instead of obsessing over Gaza. Yet, undeterred by this judicial rap, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau has chosen once again to sideline the interests of the country and issue another statement on Israel.
In a press release issued on September 9, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau criticised the Modi government for signing a bilateral investment agreement with Israel. The party labelled Smotrich as belonging to a “far-right racist party” and accused him of being a key advocate for the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the annexation of the West Bank.
#CPIM Polit Bureau condemns the visit of the Israeli Finance Ministerhttps://t.co/7sWhYVJpLt pic.twitter.com/cgEwe47tXg
— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) September 9, 2025
The CPI(M) further claimed that several countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia, Norway, the Netherlands, Slovenia and New Zealand, have banned Smotrich due to his “expansionist” policies. Calling it “shameful” that India hosted him, the party alleged that the Modi government has built “deep and entrenched ties” with the Netanyahu regime and is “complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”
The Polit Bureau has demanded that India cancel all military, security and economic cooperation with Israel until an immediate ceasefire is declared and a “just and peaceful settlement” is achieved.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on X: “Strongly condemn the Union Government’s decision to host Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right extremist and a chief architect of Israel’s brutal occupation and expansionist agenda.”
Strongly condemn the Union Government’s decision to host Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right extremist and a chief architect of Israel’s brutal occupation and expansionist agenda. At a time when a genocide is unfolding in Gaza, entering into agreements with…
— Pinarayi Vijayan (@pinarayivijayan) September 9, 2025
On September 8, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich signed a Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIA), aimed at providing greater certainty and protection for investors while facilitating the growth of trade and mutual investments by ensuring a minimum standard of treatment and establishing an independent dispute resolution mechanism through arbitration.
आज इज़राइल और भारत के बीच हुआ समझौता हमारे आर्थिक विकास, नवाचार और पारस्परिक समृद्धि को दर्शाता है और हमारे संयुक्त दृष्टिकोण के लिए यह एक महत्वपूर्ण रणनीतिक कदम है। यह समझौता दोनों देशों के निवेशकों के लिए नए अवसर खोलेगा, इज़राइली निर्यात को मज़बूत करेगा, और व्यवसायों को दुनिया… https://t.co/5iCTGIENLw
— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) September 8, 2025
But critics note that while the CPI(M) lectures New Delhi on foreign policy, it remains disturbingly mute when radical Islamist outfits are given a free run in its own backyard. Its selective outrage against Israel, combined with silence on Hamas activities in Kerala, only underlines the party’s ideological bias and political opportunism.
On 27 October 2023, Khaled Mashal, former head of Hamas, delivered a virtual address at a pro-Palestine rally in Malappuram, organized by the Solidarity Youth Movement, the youth wing of Jamaat-e-Islami.
#KERALA | Palakkad: Controversy erupts after images of Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar were displayed atop elephants during the mosque Uroos procession in Thrithala.
The display, organized by groups 'Tharavadis Thekke Bhaagam' and 'Minnal Pada Thekke Bhaagam,'… pic.twitter.com/2IN8884O6I
— Organiser Weekly (@eOrganiser) February 17, 2025
During the Thrithala Fest in Palakkad district on February 17, 2025, banners featuring Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh were paraded atop elephants, triggering backlash.
On 25 July 2025, a division bench rejected CPI(M)’s petition seeking permission to hold a protest at Azad Maidan in Mumbai against the conflict in Gaza. The Court criticised the party’s priorities, urging it to address pressing domestic issues, instead of focusing on geopolitical matters thousands of miles away. The bench scolded the CPI(M) for being “short-sighted” and questioned its patriotism, telling the party, “Be patriots… Speak up for the causes in our own country.”
