PM Modi tweets in Hebrew to greet Israelis, Benjamin Netanyahu replies in Hindi

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday tweeted in Hebrew Hanukka greetings to the people of Israel. This evoked a response from his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu who thanked Modi for his greetings in Hindi leading to much amusement in diplomatic circles on both sides.

Modi and Netanyahu met this year on the sidelines of UNGA in New York in what was the first meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries in the past 11 years. Netanyahu said after the meeting that sky was limit in bilateral relations and invited Modi to visit Israel.

Known as the Jewish festival of lights, Hanukka is celebrated in Israel for 8 days. "On behalf of all the people of the nation of Israel, thank you very much for your good wishes of Hanukka,'' tweeted Netanyahu in Hindi in his response to Modi's greetings.

There is already speculation that Modi could become the first Indian PM to visit Israel since the two countries established full diplomatic relations in 1992. The two countries are diplomatically working out dates for foreign minister Sushma Swaraj's visit early next year. According to Israeli authorities, the fact that Israel will go to polls in March is not likely to act as an impediment to Swaraj's visit. Israeli authorities told this newspaper earlier that a formal invite will be extended to Modi to visit Israel at some stage.