Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has strengthened alliances with allies and is calling India a ‘great power’, referring to PM Modi’s visit.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who described India as a “major power”, said Israel was “tightening alliances” with its allies, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jerusalem next week.

Prime Minister Modi will arrive in Israel on February 25 for a two-day visit, during which he is expected to address the Knesset (Parliament) and meet Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.

Netanyahu made the remarks while addressing a graduation ceremony for Israel Defense Forces (IDF) cadets at Bahad 1 (IDF Officers School), 190 kilometers south of Jerusalem, on Thursday (February 19, 2026).

After describing the valiant efforts of the Israeli army over the years, Mr. Netanyahu spoke of how the country would go out and take “preemptive measures” against evil and repeatedly take steps to “neutralize the dangers in the area as necessary.”

“We will also take action to strengthen alliances with our allies. Next week, the Prime Minister of India will visit the country – a huge force,” Mr Netanyahu said.

“A few days ago I returned from another diplomatic trip, number seven after the presidential election. [Donald] Trump took office for a second term, where I met the greatest friend of the State of Israel – President Trump of the United States,” he added.

“In the recently published American security doctrine, Israel is the only country in the world that the US defines as a ‘model ally,'” he asserted.

On Sunday (February 15), Mr. Netanyahu broke the news of Mr. Modi’s visit while addressing a conference of presidents of major American Jewish organizations.

“Parliament address on the anvil. Who’s coming here next week? Narendra Modi,” Mr Netanyahu told the gathering.

“There is a tremendous alliance between Israel and India, and we are going to discuss all kinds of cooperation. Now, you know, India is not a small country. It has 1.4 billion people. India is enormously powerful, enormously popular,” he said.

This is Mr Modi’s second visit to Israel, the first being in July 2017, and the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the Jewish state.