Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that weapons supplied by Israel were used by India during “Operation Sindoor” a cross-border military operation in which New Delhi targeted Pakistani positions, claiming to be striking “terrorists”.
The four-day conflict began after India accused Pakistan—without providing concrete evidence—of involvement in a deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam.
What followed was a heavy exchange of artillery fire, drone attacks, and airstrikes between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
In retaliation, Pakistan launched a large-scale military response named “Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos”, hitting multiple Indian military sites across various regions.
During the confrontation, Pakistan reportedly shot down six Indian fighter jets, including three Rafales, along with dozens of drones.
The intense fighting ended after approximately 87 hours, culminating in a US-brokered ceasefire agreement on May 10.
In a post on X, Netanyahu said he met the Indian ambassador to Israel, JP Singh, to discuss strengthening “security and economic” cooperation, before addressing senior Indian journalists.
Indian media reported that he acknowledged that Israeli-supplied systems, including Barak-8 surface-to-air missiles and HARPY drones, played a key role in India’s operations.
“The things we provided before worked very well on the field… we develop our weapons in the field and they are battle-tested,” Netanyahu remarked, adding that Israel plans to escalate its military campaign in Gaza.
Weapons used against Pakistan
According Indian media, India deployed the jointly developed Barak-8 missile system alongside Israeli HARPY drones to counter Pakistani missile strikes during the May conflict.
he Russian-made S-400 missile defence system and various Indian-made weapons were also used.
The HARPY drone is designed for “suppression of enemy air defences” and can autonomously detect and destroy radar systems with high-explosive warheads, while the Barak-8 system offers 360-degree coverage and the ability to intercept multiple aerial threats within a 100km range.
Israel’s backing for India’s action was explicit. Kobbi Shoshani, Israel’s Consul General in Mumbai, called Operation Sindoor “an action of self-defence” and said he was “very proud” of it.
Israel remains one of India’s largest arms suppliers, with over $2.9 billion in hardware exports to New Delhi over the last decade, including radars, drones, and missile systems.
Despite its ongoing war on Gaza, Israel has maintained uninterrupted weapons deliveries to India.
India’s other main suppliers are Russia ($21.8 billion), France ($5.2 billion), and the US ($4.5 billion).