Israel Military Issues Apology After Backlash Over J&K Map Showing It as ‘Part of Pakistan’

Israel Military Issues Apology After Backlash Over J&K Map: In an unprecedented move, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a public apology on Friday after sharing an inaccurate map of India’s international boundaries, which wrongly depicted Jammu and Kashmir as part of Pakistan. The controversial image was included in a post on X (formerly Twitter) and sparked immediate backlash from Indian users, some of whom also tagged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their responses.

Iran is a global threat.

Israel is not the end goal, it’s only the beginning. We had no other choice but to act. pic.twitter.com/PDEaaixA3c

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 13, 2025

Responding to the criticism, the IDF acknowledged the error and said: “This post is an illustration of the region. This map fails to precisely depict borders. We apologise for any offense caused.”

IDF's apology came after several social media users, mostly Indians, flagged the error and urged the Israeli military to retract the post. Some even tagged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Responding directly to one such tweet, by an X handle called Indian Right Wing Community", the Israel Defense Forces said, "This post is an illustration of the region. This map fails to precisely depict borders. We apologise for any offense caused". This was around 90 minutes after the original post.

The first complainant had said: "Now you understand why India remains neutral. In diplomacy, no one's really your friend".

Now you understand why India remains neutral. In diplomacy, no one's really your friend.

— Indian Right Wing Community (@indianrightwing) June 13, 2025

India has consistently maintained that Jammu and Kashmir, along with Ladakh, are integral parts of its territory, a position reaffirmed time and again, most recently by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May after the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.

The IDF’s erroneous depiction of Indian territory has therefore struck a particularly sensitive chord in the country, where territorial integrity remains a deeply emotive and political issue.

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The cartographic error has caused particular dismay because of the strong and carefully nurtured relationship between India and Israel in recent years. In 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel, a landmark trip that cemented ties in areas such as agriculture, cybersecurity, defence, and trade.

Today, India is among Israel’s top five trading partners, alongside the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and China. It is also one of the largest buyers of Israeli military equipment.

Against this backdrop, the use of an incorrect map by the Israeli military, whether accidental or careless, has struck a nerve in Indian strategic circles and among the public.

After Israel's strikes, Iran on Saturday morning launched a fresh missile attack on Israel, particularly targeting its Northern region. Air-raid sirens were activated across northern Israel, and civilians were urged to take shelter.

Iran earlier launched over 100 drones toward Israel in response to the overnight Israeli airstrikes that rocked Iranian soil and killed several top military officials, including the chief of its Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, local media reported.

The fresh escalation comes after Israeli armed forces took Iran by surprise and conducted multiple overnight airstrikes, targeting Iran's nuclear and military sites under ‘Operation Rising Lion’.

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