Pakistan, to its discredit, has shed the blood of tens of thousands of Palestinians in 1970, when our military contingent carried out an operation to quell an uprising; the Palestinians never forgave us for that. The PLO leader Yasser Arafat visited Pakistan twice but he never announced any support for the Kashmiri struggle for freedom.
After the US-sponsored Camp David accord in 1979, many Muslim countries recognized Israel, including Egypt and Jordan. Turkey had already recognized Israel in 1949.
In mid-2004, the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. The withdrawal took place in 2005 amid protests of Israeli settlers and jubilation of the Palestinians. The withdrawal was wildly welcomed in Pakistan and the rest of the Muslim world.
In July 2005, the U.S. and India signed a framework for civil-nuclear cooperation. Pakistan wanted a similar deal but, in the backdrop of the A.Q. Khan saga, the U.S. showed reluctance due to loud opposition by the Jewish lobby in the U.S.
Pakistan felt that an attempt should be made to neutralize this lobby that had brought India and Israel closer and there were reports of growing defence cooperation between them; this could have adverse implications for Pakistan’s security.
Pakistan must have been advised to dilute the situation and dispel the impression of it having greater ambitions. The country’s nuclear program was also dubbed as an infrastructure for an Islamic bomb which could be used against Israel.
Israel regarded Pakistan as a potential threat. This was stated by their foreign minister Avigdur Liberman in an interview. He named Pakistan as Israel’s greatest strategic threat; there had been reports in newspapers that Israel was concerned about the wide range of missiles in Pakistan’s arsenal. Pakistan had been supporting the Arab countries on different fronts, including defence, over the years. It sent a number of pilots and ambulance unit in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war to two Arab countries, particularly to Syria. Some PAF pilots were known to have been involved in shooting down Israeli planes in air combat.
The former Pakistan foreign minister Mian Khurshid Kasuri, mentions in his book “Neither a Hawk nor a Dove” his formal meeting on September 1, 2005, with the Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom in Istanbul. The Turkish Senior Minister Mehmet Ayden had hosted a dinner for Mr. Kasuri on August 31.
An excerpt from “Neither a Hawk nor a Dove” is given below:
“The bilateral meeting the next day was comprehensive. Bilateral and regional issues were discussed at the meeting. In response to my question regarding selling of highly sophisticated defence equipment to India, the Israeli Deputy Prime Minister told us that their relationship with India was not against Pakistan. Just wanted to sensitize him regarding our security concerns. It may be appropriate to mention here that Pakistan had in the past suspected Indian-Israeli collaboration against Pakistan and it had been decided at the highest level in Islamabad that we needed to sensitize Israel on these issues. We, however, found an appropriate opportunity for this meeting only after the decision by Israel to withdraw from Gaza, which was widely welcomed. We also reiterated our position on Palestine and on the question of Jerusalem as well as the need for Israeli pullout from the West Bank. The Israeli Deputy Prime Minister mentioned two areas of possible cooperation, i.e. sophisticated technology and agriculture; both these areas held great potential for Pakistan. We also discussed the possibility of continuing with the contacts between the two countries. Although our meeting was the first public meeting at such a high level, the two countries had maintained discreet contacts in different world capitals over several decades. We also discussed the possibility of a Pakistani delegation visiting Gaza. This could not be possible without Israeli facilitation.”
US President Donald Trump has stated a few times that without US support, most of the Arab states could not last two weeks. Shortly before the two Arab emirates gave in to pressure to recognize Israel, the US President claimed to have saved the Saudi Crown Prince from charges of ordering the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi; he is said to have been brutally murdered in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul. This was probably the proverbial last straw and we saw a new wave of recognition of Israel. I will not be surprised if Saudi Arabia follows suit before the U.S. elections.
Now I come to the question of whether Pakistan should recognize the State of Israel. Under the circumstances where Indian influence and its alliance with Israel is continually working to Pakistan’s disadvantage, why not consider it seriously? It is in Pakistan’s interest and it can use the same format and terms as used by the UAE and Bahrain and engage with Israel for an honourable settlement of the Palestine State. 
Leave a Reply