Israel names new flower in honor of visiting Indian prime minister

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday stopped at a flower farm where
a new strain of chrysanthemum was named in honor of the Indian leader.

Netanyahu and his guest, who arrived earlier at Ben Gurion International Airport, stopped at the Danziger Flower Farm at the Mishmar Hashiva agricultural community, as Modi kicked off the first-ever trip to Israel by an Indian prime minister, before heading to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and a state dinner in Jerusalem.

To mark the occasion, officials named a new white chrysanthemum developed at the farm “MODI” in honor of the visitor.

Billed as a celebration of the 25-year anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, Modi’s visit marks the first to Israel by an Indian head of government.

Besides sit-downs with senior politicians and business leaders, his packed itinerary includes meeting a Jewish victim of a terror attack in Mumbai; visiting a desalination plant and the Israel Museum; headlining a rally for thousands of Indians living in Israel; and laying wreaths at a military cemetery in Haifa.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu and @PMOIndia @narendramodi visited the Danziger Flower Farm, who named a breed of chrysanthemum after PM Modi pic.twitter.com/Jo4uVB10rN

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) July 4, 2017

Netanyahu, praising the advanced research at the farm, said “these people are doing remarkable things and you can increase the productivity of crops, of irrigation, of soil, livestock with the kind of groundbreaking research that they’re doing.”

India’s External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted that the flower naming was “a symbol of the blooming international relationship” between the two countries.

A symbol of blooming ????????-???????? rltn'p! In a spl gesture, a new fast growing variety of chrysanthemum flower named aftr PM @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/zl8d0rMgl4

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) July 4, 2017

Modi and Netanyahu traveled from the farm to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center where Modi laid a wreath in the Hall of Remembrance.

After their visit to Yad Vashem, Netanyahu asked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi if he wanted to visit the nearby tomb of Zionist visionary Theodor Herzl. Modi immediately answered in the affirmative, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement to reporters. The two then visited Herzl’s tomb on the nearby Mount Herzl.

Modi later appeared alongside Netanyahu to deliver joint statement ahead of a state dinner at the Prime Minister’s Residence.

To underline the importance Jerusalem is ascribing to Modi’s visit, Netanyahu cleared his schedule to be at his prominent guest’s side throughout almost the entire time he is in the country. This kind of attention by an Israeli prime minister is usually reserved for American presidents.

According to its website, the Danziger Flower Farm was founded in 1953 as a family business. Today, its 200 employees operate around 80,000 square meters of greenhouses specializing in the asexual reproduction of plants. Its produce is sold in 60 countries around the world.

Pointedly, the Indian prime minister will not visit the Palestinian Authority, an exceedingly rare move for countries with good ties in the Arab world. New Delhi has explained this anomaly as part of a desire to “de-hyphenate” its relationships with Jerusalem and with Ramallah.

India had traditionally voiced its support for Palestinian statehood, long shunning overtly warm ties with Israel until the Modi era.