You’re the most popular man in Israel, join my party: Israeli PM Bennett to PM Modi in Glasgow | WATCH

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday invited PM Narendra Modi to join his party. This interaction took place during a bilateral meeting between the two world leaders on the sidelines of the ongoing COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

In a video of the interaction shared on social media, the Prime Minister of Israel can be heard saying to PM Modi, “You are the most popular man in Israel. Come and join my party.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi burst into laughter upon hearing the compliment.

Israel’s PM Bennett to @narendramodi: You are the most popular man in Israel. Come and join my party pic.twitter.com/0VH4jWF9dK

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) November 2, 2021

This was the first formal meeting between PM Modi and Bennett since the latter took over as Prime Minister of Israel in June of this year following the landmark electoral defeat of Benjamin Netanyahu.

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PM Modi and his Israeli counterpart discussed expanding cooperation in areas of high-technology and innovation, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Tuesday.

The MEA’s statement also stated that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett thanked PM Modi for restarting the Indo-Israel relationship. The Indian and Jewish civilisations share a deep relationship, he reportedly said.

“Our goal is to continue the wonderful path that you placed with my predecessor and bring it to a whole new level, so we can ensure that our two nations work together on innovation, technology, space, security, agriculture, food technologies, and of course climate-related technologies,” Bennett added.

“Enhancing friendship with Israel. Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @naftalibennett had a fruitful meeting in Glasgow. Both leaders discussed deepening various avenues of cooperation for the benefit of our citizens,” PMO India’s official handle said in a tweet on Tuesday.

Enhancing friendship with Israel.

Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @naftalibennett had a fruitful meeting in Glasgow. Both leaders discussed deepening various avenues of cooperation for the benefit of our citizens. pic.twitter.com/QnzdCmgijT

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) November 2, 2021

Naftali Bennett, a former ally of Netanyahu, ended the latter’s historic 12-year rule after a 60-59 vote in the Knesset in June of this year. He is now at the head of a coalition comprising members of Israel’s political right, left and center.