Israel–Pakistan relations

Israeli–Pakistani relations

Israel
Pakistan

The bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the state of Israel have been complex since their establishment in 1947 and 1948 respectively, shifting from close ties to hostilities against each other. Politically and historically, both states were established based on their ideological declarations (See Two-Nation Theory and Homeland for the Jewish people) in 1947 from British Empire. Despite many attempts to establish relations between the two states, diplomatic ties have not been established and as many other Muslim countries have done; Pakistan has refused to recognize Israel. However, the relations between Pakistan and Israel are highly complex.[1]

On many occasions, both Pakistan and Israel used their Embassies at Istanbul to mediate or exchange information with each other, for instance Pakistan used its embassy in Istanbul to pass information on a terror group to Israel in 2010 according to the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. The 1980s saw some strong coordination between two countries when their respective intelligence agencies participated in Operation Cyclone against the Soviet Union and the Soviet war in Afghanistan its invasion of Afghanistan, based on their common mutual distrust of communism. But the hostilities are also widely reported with Israel labelling Pakistan "an antisemitic state" and Pakistan counter-labeling Israel "a Zionist and racist state". However recently, some politicians from both Israel and Pakistan have called for the normalization of diplomatic relations.

Early contacts

An attempt to establish diplomatic relations with Pakistan and Israel was made in 1947, when Israel's first Prime minister David Ben-Gurion sent a telegram to Jinnah—Pakistan's main founding father but Jinnah gave no particular response.[2][3] Later in 1949, Israel's Foreign Ministry believed it might be possible to open legations in Karachi, then the capital of Pakistan, or at least to conduct trade openly.[4] Initial contact between the ambassador (High Commissioner) of Pakistan in London and representatives of Israel and Jewish organizations was made in early 1950.[4] The Pakistani government was asked to issue passage permits to India for a few hundred Jews who wanted to leave Afghanistan and wished to emigrate to Israel.[4] The Pakistan government refused to allow them to transit through Pakistan and the Jews left through Iran.[4]

In 1952, Sir Zafarullah Khan, Pakistan's foreign minister promoted his hardline policies toward Israel, and pressed his policies toward the unity of Arab states.[4] Thus Khan's policy had worked to build strategic ties with Arab states.[4]

Political tensions

Pakistani Attitudes towards Israel

During Israel's War of Independence, Israel's diplomatic mission in Washington received information that Pakistan was trying to provide military assistance to the Arabs including rumours that a Pakistani battalion would be sent to Palestine to fight alongside them. Pakistan bought 250,000 rifles in Czechoslovakia that apparently were meant for the Arabs. Also it became known that Pakistan bought three planes in Italy for the Egyptians.[5]

The Pakistan Air Force participated in the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War; Pakistani pilots flying Jordanian and Syrian planes repeatedly engaged the Israeli Air Force and shot down Israeli planes.[6] Saiful Azam, who served as a Pakistani fighter pilot claims to have shot down at least 4 Israeli planes during the Six-Day War.[7] After the Yom Kippur War, Pakistan and the PLO signed an agreement for training PLO officers in Pakistani military institutions.[8] During the 1982 Lebanon War, Pakistani volunteers served in the PLO and 50 were taken prisoner during the Siege of Beirut.

According to Time, French intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy, has even claimed that Daniel Pearl, an American-Israeli, was assassinated by elements with backing from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, (though there has been no verifiable evidence presented) over his alleged role in gathering information linking ISI and Al-Qaeda.[9] According to other reports from BBC and Time, Pakistani militants beheaded him because of their belief that Daniel Pearl was an Israeli Mossad spy agent under the cover of being an American journalist.[10][11]

Pakistani passport

In addition to these, Pakistan religious political parties and militant groups such as the Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and Lashkar-e-Taiba fiercely oppose any relationship with Israel, and have repeatedly called Israel as the enemy of Islam and Pakistan.[12][13]

Pakistan forbids its citizens from going to Israel and all Pakistani passports bear the inscription "This passport is valid for all countries of the World except Israel."[14][15][16]

Israeli attitudes towards Pakistan

Pakistani officials have complained that in the past requests for fresh weapons systems from the U.S. have been "fiercely resisted by Indian and Israeli lobbyists".[17]

In the 1980s, Israel is said to have planned, with or without Indian assistance, a possible attack on Pakistan's bomb capacity.[18][19] After successfully destroying Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981, Israel allegedly planned a similar attack on Pakistan’s nuclear facilities at Kahuta in collusion with India in the 1980s. Using satellite pictures and intelligence information, Israel reportedly built a full-scale mock-up of Kahuta facility in the Negev Desert where pilots of F-16 and F-15 squadrons practiced mock attacks.

According to ‘The Asian Age’, journalists Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark stated in their book ‘Deception: Pakistan, the US and the Global Weapons Conspiracy’, that Israeli Air Force was to launch an air attack on Kahuta in mid-1980s from Jamnagar airfield in Gujarat, India. The book claims that “in March 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi signed off (on) the Israeli-led operation bringing India, Pakistan and Israel to within a hair’s breadth of a nuclear conflagration”.[20]

McNair’s paper #41 published by USAF Air University (India Thwarts Israeli Destruction of Pakistan's "Islamic Bomb") also confirmed this plan. It said, “Israeli interest in destroying Pakistan’s Kahuta reactor to scuttle the "Islamic bomb" was blocked by India's refusal to grant landing and refuelling rights to Israeli warplanes in 1982.” This had been India's policy for all foreign military planes/ships. Israel, on its part wanted this to be a joint Indian-Israeli strike to avoid being solely held responsible.[21]

On Thursday, October 1, 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu avoided the fear of being potentially uncomfortable time by cancelling his booking of dining in at Serafina in New York as the Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Muhammad Nawaz Shareef too was dining in at the same time due to his harsh opinion over "Israel's naked brutality in Palestine".[22]

Military intelligence cooperation

Despite the hostilities against each other, both countries are reported to have directorates to deal with each other at an intelligence level.[1] The history of Pakistan–Israel intelligence cooperation dated back to early 1980s, when Pakistan's President and Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq allowed ISI to established a secret directorate to deal with Israel's Mossad.[23] Intelligence offices were set up at both countries' embassies located at Washington D.C. where Mossad and ISI, with CIA, ran a decade year long anti-Soviet operation, codename Operation Cyclone.[24] Under this operation, Israel proliferated Soviet made-weapons to the Afghan rebels fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, and Israel supplied weapons to the Pakistan Army.[24]

WikiLeaks, in a disclosed United States diplomatic cable, revealed that ISI had secretly passed on intelligence data to Mossad. ISI had intercepted information that Israeli civilians may be targeted in a terrorist attack in India during September and November 2008 (following the 26 November Mumbai Terror Attacks that among its targets included a Jewish centre—the Nariman House).[25] It was reported that Pakistan's Lieutenant-General Ahmad Shuja Pasha was in direct contact with Israel's Mossad.[25]

Israel and Pakistan were both allied to the United States and the western bloc during the Cold War, while India was allied to the Soviet Union's bloc. India supported the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and supported the pro Soviet Afghan leader Mohammad Najibullah. Pakistan and Israel opposed the Soviet invasion, with Israel supplying arms to Pakistan to give to the Afghan rebels. Israel had captured the weapons from Palestinian groups such as the PLO who were supplied by the Soviets.[24]

Normalization of ties

Diplomatic

Some Israeli leaders believe that should diplomatic relations with Pakistan be established as Pakistan could possibly serve as a bridge between Israel and the Muslim world including Arab countries.[26] Although the governments of Israel and Pakistan do not officially have relations with each other, there have been a number of contacts between the two states.[27] According to the Jang News, there continue to be multiple reports that many top Pakistani personalities and figures have visited Israel.[28] Former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf has openly spoken for the diplomatic relations with Israel. He is the first Pakistani Muslim to be interviewed by Haaretz writer Danna Harman in London.[29]

Military ties

Britain's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills revealed in 2013 that Israel had exported military technology to Pakistan. In 2011, Israel sought to purchase from Britain equipment that would then be exported to Pakistan. These included electronic warfare systems and aircraft parts.[30] Israel denied the report and Pakistan called the revelations "misleading."[31]

Sporting ties

Football is the only sport in which these two nations played against each other at the 1960 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. During the 2002 Wimbledon Open, Israeli tennis player Amir Hadad teamed up with Pakistani tennis player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi to play in the 3rd round doubles. The Israeli and Pakistani teams, with their pairing of an Israeli and a Pakistani, made headline news.[32]

Dan Kiesel, an Israeli-born German, served as the Pakistan cricket team's trainer and physiotherapist and lived in Lahore.[33]

Former Foreign Minister of Pakistan Khurshid Kasuri supported ties between Pakistan and Israel.[34] Tashbih Sayyed was a well-known Pakistani-born American who openly expressed his support of Israel in many of his columns and writings throughout his journalistic career.[35]

Timeline

See also

Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 Ayesha Siddiqa (1994). "Is Pakistan like Israel or North Korea?". The Express Tribune. Retrieved June 6, 2010. Pakistan has a love-hate relationship with Israel. While we abhor Tel Aviv, secretly powerful Pakistanis happily claim similarities between the two states starting with the fact that both Israel and Pakistan were created on the basis of a religious identity.
  2. ↑ Today, Israel (18 February 2013). "Could Israel and Pakistan be Friends?". Israeltoday.co.il.
  3. ↑ P. R. Kumaraswamy (June 1997). "The Strangely Parallel Careers of Israel and Pakistan". The Middle East Quarterly IV (2): 31–39. Retrieved July 4, 2012. Pakistan is like Israel, an ideological state. Take out the Judaism from Israel and it will fall like a house of cards. Take Islam out of Pakistan and make it a secular state; it would collapse. —Zia ul-Haq, Pakistan's ruler, December 1981
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Moshe Yegar (2007). "Pakistan and Israel". Dr. Moshe Yegar, Jewish Political Studies Review. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Retrieved 2011.
  5. 1 2 Moshe Yegar, "Pakistan and Israel", Jewish Political Studies Review 19:3–4 (Fall 2007)
  6. ↑
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ Mushahid Hussain, "How Pakistan Views Israel and the Palestinians", Middle East International, September 1988, 21; P. R. Kumaraswamy, Beyond the Veil: Israel–Pakistan Relations (Tel Aviv: Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Tel Aviv University, 2000), 34
  9. ↑ On the Trail of Daniel Pearl, By Daren Fonda Saturday, Sep. 27, 2003
  10. ↑ Daniel Pearl: Seeker for dialogue, BBC News, 21 February, 2002
  11. ↑ The Odd Ordeal Of Daniel Pearl, By Unmesh Kher Monday, Time, Feb. 11, 2002
  12. ↑ Jamaat-e-Islami declares Israel, US the World's "top terrorists", Sana News
  13. ↑ Protests Across Pakistan Against Israel's Commando Action On Gaza Flotilla, Memri Blog, 2/June/2010
  14. ↑ Pakistan K1 Visa Processing Times
  15. ↑ Canada Immigration Info' - FAQs, Info' available as answer for the question "Are some passports better to have than others?".
  16. ↑ Article - World Security Network
  17. ↑ Pakistan and Israel - new friends? By Aamer Ahmed Khan, BBC News, 1 September 2005
  18. ↑ India Thwarts Israeli Destruction of Pakistan's "Islamic Bomb", McNair Paper Number 41, Radical Responses to Radical Regimes: Evaluating Preemptive Counter-Proliferation, May 1995
  19. ↑ "India Thwarts Israeli Destruction of Pakistan's "Islamic Bomb"". Institute of National Strategic Studies. May 1995. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  20. ↑ [Deception: Pakistan, the US and the Global Weapons Conspiracy, Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark]
  21. ↑ [McNair’s paper #41 published by USAF University]
  22. ↑ http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2015/10/02/national/netanyahu-refused-to-be-in-same-restaurant-as-sharif-report/
  23. 1 2 Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of Our Times, By George Crile, Grove Press, 2007, Chapter 10.
  24. 1 2 3 "Pakistan got Israeli weapons during Afghan war". Pakistan: Daily Times Monitor. July 20, 2003. Retrieved July 4, 2012., mirrored at "Pakistan Got Israeli Weapons During Afghan War". Daily Times Monitor. 20 July 2003.
  25. 1 2 3 Katz, Yaakov (December 1, 2010). "WikiLeaks: Pakistan passed terror intel to Israel". Jerusalem Post: International directorate (Jerusalem Post). Retrieved 2010-12-02.
  26. ↑ "Bhutto wanted ties with Israel, sought Mossad protection". Israel Today. December 28, 2007. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  27. ↑ "Pakistan-Israel in landmark talks". BBC News. September 1, 2005. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  28. ↑ Mian, Azeem M. (December 25, 2009), "PP's leadership connection to Tel Aviv", Jang Group of Newspapers, p. 1, retrieved 2009
  29. ↑ "Relations with Israel could help Pakistan, says former president Musharraf". Haaretz. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  30. 1 2 ISPR denies Israel arming Pakistan with hi-tech gear, says report baseless
  31. 1 2 Israel denies exporting military equipment to Pakistan
  32. ↑ "Sport". The Guardian (London). February 10, 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  33. ↑ Ori Lewis (12 July 2001). "Dan Kiesel: Our man in Pakistan". Haaretz. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  34. ↑ Muhsen Ali (8 September 2015). "Kasuri’s encounter with Israel’s Shalom – an inside story".
  35. ↑ "Tashbih Sayyed". Arutz Sheva.
  36. ↑ "Philippine Air Lines October 22, 1949 timetable, page 3 of 4".
  37. ↑ Siddiqi, Shahid R. (14 February 2010). "How safe are Pakistan’s nuclear assets". Dawn.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2010.
  38. ↑ Deception: Pakistan, the US and the Global Weapons Conspiracy, by Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark
  39. 1 2 Journalist and author George Crile's book, Charlie Wilson's War (Grove Press, New York, 2003)
  40. ↑ "Musharraf opens debate on Israel relations". BBC news. 3 July 2003. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  41. ↑ "Pakistan-Israel in landmark talks". BBC News. 1 September 2005. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  42. ↑ "Musharraf says Pakistan not to recognize Israel". People's Daily Online. Xinhua News Agency. September 2, 2005. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  43. ↑ "Musharraf: Pakistan will eventually recognize Israel". ynetnews.com. September 27, 2006. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  44. ↑ Barak Ravid (1 December 2010). "WikiLeaks: Pakistan tipped off Israel on terror threats in India". Haaretz. Reuters. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  45. ↑ Khoury, Jack (28 February 2015). "Israeli lecturer takes part in Pakistan conference". Haaretz. Haaretz. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
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