By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday scrapped reports that a delegation comprising Pakistani nationals travelled to Israel and called on the diplomatically unrecognised state’s head.
The Foreign Office (FO) stepped in after media Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he recently received a delegation of Pakistani-Americans, calling it an “amazing experience” and referred to it as an example that showed him “great change” vis-a-vis Israel’s ties with the Muslim world.
An FO spokesperson told a news briefing that the visit in question was organised by a foreign NGO, which was not based in Pakistan.
“Pakistan’s position on the Palestinian issue is clear and unambiguous. There is no change whatsoever in our policy on which there is complete national consensus.”
He said Pakistan steadfastly supported the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination.
“The establishment of an independent, viable and contiguous Palestinian State with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in accordance with the relevant UN and OIC resolutions, is imperative for just and lasting peace in the region,” he added.
Herzog’s remarks about the delegation’s visit came during address at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting on May 26 in Davos, Switzerland.
He was talking about the Abraham Accords -a deal brokered by the United States in 2020, which saw normalisation of relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain.
“The Abraham Accords are giving a lot of yield. How would you see this for enlarging the scope of cooperation?” asked WEF President Borge Brende.
“I’ll tell you, you know, we are seeing it in all levels of life. Not speaking about just mere visits. We are seeing interest on all economic, scientific, innovation levels but I will tell you more about the personal feelings,” the president replied.
Herzog said that he had received two delegations last week which showed “the great change”.
“One was a delegation of young opinion-makers from Morocco who have aligned on Facebook with an Israeli [group],” he said.
The next day, Herzog said, he received a delegation of Pakistani expats living in the US “together with other members of other countries in their region”.
“And I must say this was an amazing experience. We haven’t had a group of Pakistani leaders in Israel in such scope. And that all stems from the Abraham Accords, meaning Jews and Muslims can dwell together in the region […].”
Although Herzog did not mention details about the Pakistanis he met. The visit was organsied by Sharaka — an Israeli non-government organisation (NGO) — to “promote peace in the Middle East”.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan brought it up during a rally in Charsadda, saying “slaves of the US” in the government would do everything ordered to them.
Lashing out at the government, he alleged that it would strike a deal with India at the expense of Kashmiris and also recognise Israel.
Meanwhile, PTI leader Shireen Mazari interpreted the Israeli leader’s comments as “another commitment made to US under regime change conspiracy by imported government and other co-conspirators fulfilled!”
“Shameful subservience!” she said on Twitter.
PTI’s Imran Ismail said that all those who had called party chairman Imran Khan a “Jewish agent” their entire lives were now proven to be “certified Jewish agents and slaves”.
The pride of the nation is being sold off due to this shameful slavery, he said.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that no official or semi-official Pakistani delegation had conducted the alleged meetings.
He said the government’s policy was “clear” and it did not recognise the state of Israel.
“All our sympathies are with our Palestinian brothers and sisters,” Iqbal added.
Anila Ali, a Pakistani-born US citizen living in Washington, who led the trip to Israel, is upset over the increasing carping from Pakistanis, asking questions like who was responsible for the visit.
Ali told the AP, a foreign newswire, there was no truth to remarks by opposition leader Imran Khan in which he said a Pakistani delegation had gone to Israel.
She said Khan also alleged without providing evidence that the current rulers in Pakistan “are going to recognise Israel.”
“We have no intentions of speaking for the Pakistani government whether to normalise relations with Israel or not,” AP quoted Ali as saying.
“The matter is between the Israeli government and Pakistan,” she told AP.
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