From having a flower named after him, to having a tandoori restaurant's chef to tend to his eating habits, Modi's first day in Israel went by smoothly

Say it with flowers

PM Modi may have advocated gifting “books over bouquets”, but PM Netanyahu still believes in saying it with flowers. At their first stop after Mr. Modi landed in Tel Aviv, they went to the famous Danziger flower farm and the Volcani institute of floriculture research, where a “fast-growing” Chrysanthemum species was named after him. The PM’s name also had many including Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon commenting on the town of Modi’in which lies on the PM’s route between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. As a result, the signs read “Modi’in Tel Aviv” and “Modi’in Jerusalem”, leading to many chuckles on Twitter.

Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu at the Danziger Flower farm. | Photo Credit: @MEAIndia

Flag in your pocket

PM Modi for his part, may have returned the floral gift with a gift of colours. As he came down from Air India 1 to meet PM Netanyahu, and came into view, many journalists were heard asking if the colour of his bandgala suit, a white suit with a pocket silk in deep blue, signified the colours of the Israeli flag. During President Barack Obama’s visit to Delhi in January 2015, most had commented on PM Modi’s suit which had his name embroidered on it, but failed to notice his pocket silk at the time, which on closer view revealed a red, white and blue scarf, with stripes and stars on it.

Gujarati businessmen to the rescue

After years of speculation over when PM Modi would actually make the visit to Israel, he had finally announced it during a visit to Surat, the diamond-hub of the country in April this year. “I am going to Israel on your behalf” Mr. Modi told businessmen there. A few months later, it was, significantly diamond traders who came to the rescue of the organisers of Mr. Modi’s diaspora event for Israelis of Indian origin, who found they couldn’t raise the funds required for the event. Prominent amongst them is Rashmi Mehta, the owner of one of the world’s biggest diamond markets, the Gembel group in Antwerp, who flew into Israel to be at diaspora event where PM Modi and PM Netanyahu will speak to an audience of about 5,000 in Tel Aviv.

Modi and Netanyahu at the Yad Vashem Memorial | Photo Credit: @MEAIndia

Spice and Shalom

When the PM travels abroad, an Indian chef is on call to tend to his tastes, as the PM is known to eat only Indian food. In New York in 2014, for example, Michelin Star chef Vikas Khanna produced the meal for a high-powered dinner for American CEOs. In Abu Dhabi in 2015, the UAE royalty flew in Star chef Sanjeev Kapoor to serve a special Gujarati Thali for the PM. More recently in Portugal last month, the MEA spokesperson tweeted out the Indian menu for the PM hosted by the PM of Portugal. In Israel, Mr. Modi has the help of some “in-house” talent, however, as the food at the King David hotel, where he is staying will be overseen by Reena Pushkarna, the owner of several Tandoori Restaurants in Israel and a ready-to-eat Kosher meals business, who just happens to also be the convener of the Israel chapter of the Overseas Friends of BJP. The menu on day one at the private dinner thrown by PM Netanyahu included gol gappas, idlis, makai palak, aloo dum, khumb pulao, ma ki dal, mango kulfi .