Israel President Isaac Herzog has confirmed that he recently met a delegation of Pakistani expats, terming it an ‘amazing experience’. He claimed that this ‘great change’ [in relations between the two countries] was due to the Abraham Accords of 2020.
Herzog issued these statements during an address at the World Economic Forum (WED) in Davos, Switzerland, while responding to a question about the Abraham Accords – a joint statement brokered by the US that was signed in 2020, aimed at the normalisation of relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The president said that the Abraham Accords are resulting in increased cooperation on all levels of life and that he received two delegations in Israel recently, both of which showed ‘great change’.
🔴 Depuis le Forum économique de @Davos le Président de l'État d'Israël @Isaac_Herzog révèle s'être entretenu avec des délégations du Pakistan 🇵🇰 et d'autres délégations de pays musulmans de cette région. Israël n'entretient aucune relation diplomatique avec le Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/2kGpFuR5L6
— Jonathan Serero (@sererojonathan) May 25, 2022
One of the delegations according to Herzog consisted of South Asians, including two Pakistani-Americans, who he said resided permanently in the US, but were ‘proud Pakistanis’. He said it was an ‘amazing experience’ because there has never been a delegation of ‘Pakistani leaders in such scope’ before in Israel.
Although he did not specify who the members of the delegation were, an Israeli NGO Sharaka had shared videos of a trip it had organized for a Pakistan-American delegation to “promote peace in the Middle East”.
watch Sharaka's #Pakistani–#American historic delegation visiting #Israel for the first time in order to promote #peace in the #MiddleEast 🇮🇱https://t.co/tjXdSxDkb9
— Sharaka – شراكة (@sharakango) May 19, 2022
Pakistan does not recognize Israel and therefore has no diplomatic relations with it. Pakistan is also an ally to the Palestinian cause and refuses to recognize Israel until a ‘just settlement’ is decided upon for Palestine.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former human rights minister Shireen Mazari criticized the meeting of Pakistani expats with the Israeli president, terming it ‘shameful subservience’ to the US, linking it to PTI Chairperson’s claims of a US-led regime change conspiracy which he claims led to his ouster.
Another commitment made to US under regime change conspiracy by Imported govt & other co-conspirators fulfilled! Shameful subservience! #CrimeMinisterRejected pic.twitter.com/Xa4dDGpOtd
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) May 29, 2022
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has categorically rejected the notion of any official delegation from Pakistan visiting Israel.
It said the visit in question was arranged by a foreign NGO and Pakistan’s position on the Palestinian issue was “clear and unambiguous”. “There is no change whatsoever in our policy on which there is complete national consensus,” the FO statement added.
Minister of Planning Ahsan Iqbal also said that no official or semi-official Pakistani delegation had conducted meetings.
ہاکستان کے کسی سرکاری یا نیم سرکاری وفد نے ملاقات نہیں کی-اس وفد کے شرکاء پاکستانی نژاد امریکی شہری تھے جو اپنی وضاحت کر چکے ہیں۔حکومت ہاکستان کی پالیسی واضح ہے اور وہ ریاست اسرائیل کو تسلیم نہیں کرتی۔ہماری تمام تر ہمدردیاں اپنے فلسطینی بھائیوں اور بہنوں کے ساتھ ہیں۔ https://t.co/4DxfuvFUyE
— Ahsan Iqbal (@betterpakistan) May 29, 2022
