The portal highlights collaborations ranging from Israeli startups to advanced defense projects, while providing a direct channel for Indian readers to follow innovation and bilateral initiatives.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was due to arrive in Israel on Wednesday, attention has focused on more than ceremonial handshakes and red carpets.

A new Hindi-language digital initiative, officially launched on Sunday, aims to deepen ties between the two countries beyond the headlines.

The global network israel.com announced the debut of a new news portal, israelnews.in, aimed squarely at the Indian public.

The site is positioned as a bridge for understanding Israel’s technological and strategic developments, coinciding with India’s growing defense and innovation partnerships with Israel.

“It’s not just another website. It’s a statement of intent,” said Jordan Fried, who leads the israel.com network.

Fried, known for co-founding Hedera Hashgraph, emphasized the platform’s mission: “No ads. No noise. Just the story. The story of Israel and India is a legacy, not a product to be sold between banner ads.”

Fried, whose reputation is built on blockchain and decentralized technology, said he sees the portal as a way to address what he calls “broken infrastructure” in global media.

“Most people in India don’t get a clear picture of Israel,” Fried said. “Our goal is to provide unfiltered access, to tell the story directly, without intermediaries or commercial distractions.”

The portal is hosted on an official Indian .in domain, signaling its direct outreach to India’s population of 1.4 billion.

It is also tied to Fried’s broader digital ecosystem, Zooz, which includes a cryptocurrency and stock component designed to ensure sustainable, independent media.

In addition to Modi’s upcoming visit, an Israeli delegation is due to depart for New Delhi this Monday to begin the first round of practical negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with India.

The Israeli delegation, led by the ministry’s Foreign Trade Administration, includes experts in customs, regulation, services, intellectual property, and government procurement.

They will meet with their Indian counterparts to formulate a comprehensive agreement designed to remove trade barriers and provide a competitive advantage to Israeli industry in one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

India, the world’s fifth-largest economy with a population of roughly 1.4 billion, is a strategic destination for Israeli exports. Exports of Israeli goods and services to India reached about $3.1 billion in 2024, growing 56% over four years.

A free trade agreement aims to reduce high tariffs and trade barriers while also addressing digital trade, services, intellectual property, government procurement, and other areas essential for deepening cooperation.

Most recently, the Israeli company IDE won a tender in December to build a reverse osmosis desalination plant in southern India, which will supply high-quality water to residents of Mullakadu and Tuticorin in the southeast Indian district of Tamil Nadu.

“This is about building a relationship that lasts beyond the visit,” Fried said. “We’re entering what some may call the Zion-Bharat Era — a time when information flows as quickly as technology itself, and where people, not just governments, understand each other’s potential.”

The portal highlights collaborations ranging from Israeli startups to advanced defense projects, while providing a direct channel for Indian readers to follow innovation and bilateral initiatives.

Fried said it offers India a view of Israel as “a partner, a brother, and a fellow traveler on the road to tomorrow.”

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The agreement also eases regulatory barriers across several fields, particularly in services, standardization, and investments.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

A free-trade agreement between Israel and Vietnam signed in 2023 took effect on Friday as Israel’s Ministry Economy and Industry said it anticipated a boost in bilateral trade.

The free trade agreement is Israel’s first with a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a political and economic union made up of 10 countries, including several that do not have diplomatic ties with Israel.

“The trade agreement with Vietnam is a leap forward in the Israeli economy – another step on the way to deepening Israel’s cooperation with leading economies in the world,” said Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat.

“Israel brings innovation and unique technological advantages that will reach the Vietnamese market, and this is a connection that the world cannot ignore. I instructed the Foreign Trade Administration teams to continue to strengthen the network of agreements and open new doors for the Israeli industry and exporters – which will result in a significant contribution to the consumer public in Israel and to lower the cost of living.”

The agreement reduces customs tariffs on a wide range of products, ranging from chemicals and electronic equipment to agricultural products and medical devices.

It also eases regulatory barriers across several fields, particularly in services, standardization, and investments.

Israel also imports significant consumer goods from Vietnam, such as clothing, footwear, coffee, and mobile phones,

With a steady increase in trade between Israel and Vietnam — reaching $1.3 billion in 2023 — the Foreign Trade Administration projects even greater growth in 2024, despite supply chain constraints stemming from the war with Hamas and Hezbollah.

The anticipated customs reductions and the simplification of trade barriers are expected to inject tens of millions of shekels into the Israeli economy annually.

“This agreement is an expression of our commitment to expand Israeli export options to the world. Southeast Asian markets, and in particular Vietnam, are a reliable, stable and growing destination for Israel, and we will continue to create relative advantages for Israeli industry in these markets,” said Roy Fisher, director of the ministry’s Foreign Trade Administration.

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The two countries had a trade volume of $6.8 billion last year.

By The Algemeiner

Turkey has ceased all exports and imports to and from Israel as of Thursday, according to the Turkish trade ministry.

“Export and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products,” the ministry said in a statement, citing the “humanitarian tragedy” in the Palestinian territories as the reason.

“Turkey will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli government allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” the trade ministry added.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded forcefully to Ankara, accusing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of violating agreements by blocking ports for Israeli imports and exports.

“This is how a dictator behaves, disregarding the interests of the Turkish people and businessmen, and ignoring international trade agreements,” Katz wrote on X/Twitter.

Katz said he directed Israel’s foreign ministry to pursue alternatives for trade with Turkey, emphasizing a focus on local production and imports from other countries.

“Israel will emerge with a strong and daring economy,” he added. “We win, and they lose.”

The two countries had a trade volume of $6.8 billion last year.

Last month, Turkey imposed trade restrictions on Israeli exports over Israel’s ongoing war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza following the Oct. 7 massacre.

Thursday’s announcement by Turkey was the latest step in a recent wave of hostile moves targeting Israel, with Erdogan being one of the Jewish state’s harshest critics.

Just one day earlier, Turkey announced its intention to join South Africa’s so-far-unsuccessful case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing “state-led genocide” in Gaza.

That came after Erdogan in March threatened to “send [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to Allah to take care of him, make him miserable, and curse him.” He previously accused Israel of operating “Nazi” concentration camps and compared Netanyahu with Adolf Hitler.

Weeks earlier, Erdogan said that Netanyahu was a “butcher” who would be tried as a “war criminal” over Israel’s military operations in Gaza. He has also called Israel a “terror state.”

Turkey hosts senior Hamas officials and, together with Iran and Qatar, has provided a large portion of the Palestinian terror group’s budget.

Several Western and Arab states designate Hamas, an offshoot of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, as a terror group.

However, Erdogan has defended Hamas terrorists as “resistance fighters” against what he described as an Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

Israel withdrew all its troops and civilian settlers from Gaza in 2005.

Turkish-Israeli diplomatic relations have nosedived since the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, when the terrorist group that rules Gaza murdered 1,200 people in southern Israel and kidnapped 253 others as hostages, launching the ongoing war in the Palestinian enclave.

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The near-daily attacks by the Iranian terror proxy the Houthis threaten lives and global trade, and heavily impacts Israeli ports.

The post WATCH: Houthi attacks continue to disrupt trade at Haifa port appeared first on World Israel News.