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Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s remarks on television regarding Israel’s recognition have been the subject of heated debate inside and outside the country for weeks.
In response to a question in a lengthy interview on Pakistan’s private GNN television channel, Imran Khan made it clear that the United States was pressuring Pakistan to establish relations with Israel.
“Israel has a profound influence in the United States, which has increased with Donald Trump … the pressure comes from there.”
When asked if the Muslim “brother” country of the Middle East was also putting pressure on Pakistan, Imran Khan said: “Not everything can be said all the time.” We have a good relationship with them. “
Is anyone showing greed towards Pakistan in exchange for recognizing Israel? – Embarrassed by this question, Imran Khan replied: “Exclude these questions, say something else. Ask these questions when our country can stand on its own.”
However, Imran Khan later said that he was not thinking of entering into relations with Israel by selling out the interests of the Palestinians. “I have no doubts until there is a just solution that attracts the Palestinians.”
Yet at the same time, Imran Khan said, compromises must be made for the common good. He said that the Prophet also made the treatise of Hudaybiyyah in the highest interest.
With the promotion of this interview, Imran Khan’s words are being discussed inside and outside of Pakistan. The interpretation of the words of the Prime Minister of Pakistan is also being analyzed in the big news from Israel.
The Pakistani government issued a statement on November 17, two days after the interview aired, saying there was no pressure on Pakistan to recognize Israel.
What is that Muslim country?
However, the debate does not stop there. In particular, the question of who Imran Khan has avoided creating pressure from the “brotherly” Muslim state is being explored as to who the country might be.
Kanwar Khuldun Shahid, a Pakistani journalist and political analyst, wrote in a comment in the Israeli daily Haaretz that there was pressure that “Saudi Arabia is a country that Imran Khan did not want to name a Muslim brother country.”
Kanwar Shahid said the Saudis could take advantage of Pakistan’s economic dependence on them. Saudi Arabia has withheld around £ 200 million in emergency loans from Pakistan, which are badly needed by Pakistan.
The journalist also wrote that the Pakistani army is also in favor of establishing normal relations with Israel because, according to him, the army believes that it can balance at least some of the Indo-Israeli strategic relations. Referring to the “economic interests” of the Pakistani army in Saudi Arabia, the Pakistani journalist suggested that Saudi Arabia might also be trying to change Pakistan’s position on Israel through the army.
But not everyone agrees with this analysis.
Hassan Askari Rizvi, a senior Pakistani political analyst and head of the former interim government in Punjab province, told BBC Bangla that he was skeptical about how much pressure Saudi Arabia could exert on Pakistan on these sensitive issues.
Rather, he said, the United States is playing a key role in building Israel’s relationship with the Muslim world, so he wouldn’t be surprised if Washington said something to Pakistan about it.
“Pakistan is in constant dialogue with the US administration on various strategic issues. During all these contacts, some suggestions and proposals about relations with Israel may come up. Many see it as stress … I am not surprised.”
‘Political suicide’
But whatever the pressure or the advice, what is the probability that Pakistan will agree?
“Imran Khan will certainly not be relieved by any pressure or suggestion to normalize relations with Israel. That is why he is under a lot of pressure from the country’s main political parties. It will be difficult for him to handle the reaction of hard-line Islamist groups to any sign of recognition of Israel “.
Rizvi said that even if these Islamist parties do not win the elections, they can create chaos in the streets and bring the government to its knees. “By no means do I want to convey that I recommend that the mother be inactive.”
What is Israel thinking?
Researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS), a security research institute in Israel. Jonathan Spire told BBC Bangla that after normalizing relations with the two Muslim Arab countries, Israel now wants to remove such relations from the Arab world.
“In that sense, Pakistan is undoubtedly an important country for Israel,” he said.
But at the same time. “Israel is aware of the negative attitude of the larger Pakistani population towards” Israel and the Jews, “Spire said.
Furthermore, Israel is unwilling to heed what Imran Khan has repeatedly said about an independent Palestinian state or a solution to the Palestinian crisis. The Palestinian question involves the question of Israel’s security. Israel does not seem to care about Pakistan’s sensitivity. “
Indian journalist Harinder Misra has been working in Jerusalem for 22 years. He says Israel no longer agrees to link the Palestinian issue to relations.
“From the experience of more than two decades of journalism here, I can say that while Israel is eager to close the gap with the Muslim world, Netanyahu and the right have always refused to add the Palestinian issue to this relationship,” Egypt said. .
“After relations with various Arab countries, now everyone in Israel says that Netanyahu’s policy is proving correct.”
India and Turkey factor
Dr. Spire believes that it is now almost impossible for Israel to ignore any sensitivity in India’s relations with Pakistan.
“Economically and strategically, India is now the most important country for Israel after the United States. It is more important for Israel to value India’s will than its relationship with Pakistan.”
At the same time, he said, Israel is skeptical about the degree to which Ankara’s proximity to Islamabad will lead to normal relations with Pakistan.
Dr. Spire believes that if there is any pressure on the Imran Khan government, it comes mainly from Saudi Arabia and the Pakistani army.
“The Pakistani military wants to improve relations with the United States. They may think it would be better to talk about relations with Israel,” Spire said.
Interest in Pakistan
But Israel’s interest in forging ties with Pakistan, the world’s only nuclear-armed nation, is nothing new.
Former Pakistani President General Musharraf was also interested. It was at his behest that Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, the then Pakistani Foreign Minister, met with then-Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom in Istanbul, Turkey, in February 2005.
A few months later, in September 2005, during the UN General Assembly session in New York, General Musharraf publicly shook hands with then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving office.
However, in a subsequent interview with the Associated Press, Musharraf indicated that Pakistan was willing to recognize Israel if it accepted an independent Palestinian state.
In an interview with Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper earlier that month, Israel’s Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said: “Israel has never considered Pakistan an enemy state in its 56-year history, and Israel believes that Pakistan, like Iran, Libya or Syria, never wants to harm Israel. “
He said that the “conspiracy theory” that Israel wanted to destroy Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in collaboration with India was a fabrication.
Current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also told reporters during his visit to India in 2016 that his country does not consider Pakistan an enemy.
But Dr. Jonathan Spire believes that the Israeli government is not as interested in entering into relations with Pakistan as it was 10 or 15 years ago.
“The main reason is the proximity to India in recent years.”
Public opinion in Pakistan
Following Israel’s relations with several Arab countries and Imran Khan’s latest interview, many in the Pakistani media and on social media have expressed their views on Israel’s relations with Israel.
Hassan Askari Rizvi said that although the majority of the general public in Pakistan has a negative view of Israel, there is a difference of opinion on the issue among an educated class in the West.
“Some people think that since Israel and the Jews have a great influence in America, their relationship with them is the best for Pakistan. Some are in favor of waiting without haste ”.
Rizvi believes that if Saudi Arabia recognizes Israel, a portion of Pakistan’s hardline Islamists will be largely silenced. “So it may be easier for politicians to think differently.”
However, he does not see any possibility of normal relations between Pakistan and Israel in the near future.
Source: BBC
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