In the aftermath of the most “Historic” announcement about the establishment of relations between Israel and the UAE, debate about Pakistan and Israel’s relationship is trending in the media and political circles. Many analysts are advocating that Pakistan must follow the suit and must adjust to the Geo-political realities. As mentioned in the Press release issued by the Foreign office Pakistan it is going to have “Far-reaching implications”. Therefore, Pakistan must take into account all of these before considering any policy shift. The main argument in favor of Policy shift is that despite mistreatment of Muslims by other countries including India, US Pakistan has recognized them but the fact of the matter is that Pakistan policy of not recognizing Israel is not based on the “Mistreatment of Palestinians” but is based on Anti Colonial & anti-imperialist vision of Pakistan’s founding father Muhammad Ali Jinnah. All India Muslim League under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam passed multiple resolutions on Palestine; 15 October 1937 at Lucknow, April 1943 at Dehli, December 1943 at Karachi. Moreover, even in his last Eid Message on 28th August 1948, he addressed Both Palestine and Kashmir and called for joint struggle. This was not limited to just the British colonialism; Muslim league had a similar view on French imperialism be it in Algeria or be it in Libya. Jinnah exposed the Zionist Expansionist Plan in the 1940’s which now India is implementing in Kashmir (Post 5 Aug) regarded as “Israeli Model” by President of Pakistan Arif Alvi. This is the reason why Pakistan does not recognize Israel but also Armenia and supports Azerbaijan. Another argument is that all countries are working for their national interests and we must follow our – It is a valid argument but isn’t the national interest of Pakistan lies in not accepting the Status Quo in Palestine? Any policy change on Israel is going to have direct legal, moral, political implications on Kashmir. The very argument that Turkey has recognized Israel why can’t we do the same, goes against the case of Kashmir. If Pakistan accepts the annexation of Palestine on what grounds Pakistan will advocate against the annexation of Kashmir which is based on the very the model. Another argument in favor of recognition is given by Ex-Army men (mostly close to Musharraf) is that by establishing ties with Israel we can counterbalance the growing Israel-India defense ties. This argument is as flawed as the previous one, India is like the Israel of South Asia. The whole Indo-Pacific US strategy is revolving around Indian lead regional order just like it is revolving around Israel lead regional order in the Middle-East. Any policy shift by Israel is going to have direct implications for the regional order in the middle-East. It is like expecting Israel to “shoot oneself in the foot”. Apart from that, despite decades-long Strategic partnerships with KSA, UAE, and other Muslim countries Pakistan failed to counter India. Moreover, having relations with 200 countries couldn’t help Pakistan in diplomatically mobilizing the world on Kashmir what can this new addition to the list can do? For Pakistan, the million-dollar question is will Pakistan be able to hold onto its traditional, ideological policy of non-interference and Anti-Imperialism or will Pakistan bow down to the pressure by the World power in the name of Geo-political realities.
Check Comprehensive Analysis on Why Pakistan Does Not Recognize Israel: https://youtu.be/hBcvo0jRzBA
Author: Talha Ahmad (Editor in Chief PSF)
About Author: Talha Ahmad is a Freelance Journalist. He is an independent Geo-Political Analyst, commentator, and keen observer of International relations. Talha Ahmad opinions have been featured in different News-websites like Daily times, Pakistan Today, Global Village Space, Morning Mail. He can be reached on twitter @talhahamad967.
Note: The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Pakistan Strategic Forum.
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