ISLAMABAD/LONDON – Social media in the country and several other parts of the world are talking about reports of Pakistani officials meeting Israelis in Tel Aviv, despite that Islamabad has rejected such reports about recongnising Israel as ‘baseless speculation’.
The latest controversy is stirred by Noor Dahri, an independent researcher in counter terrorism and violent extremism, who gave an interview to far-right Israeli TV channel i24TV yesterday. It was followed by his interview with Jerusalem Post today.
'Pakistan is facing pressure from Arab countries to leave the Turkish bloc and normalize ties with Israel,' @dahrinoor2, executive director of @ITCTofficial, to @calev_i24 on why Pakistani PM Imran Khan sent a senior advisor to meet with Israeli officials in #TelAviv: pic.twitter.com/L4u3S26ASW
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) December 15, 2020
Dahri, who is the founder and executive director of UK based Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism- ITCT, has claimed that “an adviser of Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Tel Aviv in November on his British passport to relay an official message that proposed normalisation of ties between Pakistan and Israel in return for its support “to halt down Pakistan’s current cold situation with the Arab countries as well as to support it in many international issues”.
In his revelations, which were met with mixed reactions, Dahri maintained that the unnamed adviser “was welcomed by the Israeli officials at the airport as the visit was approved by the US.”
Just delivered my interview to the The @Jerusalem_Post about the #Pakistani official’s visit to #Israel.
These meetings should be open to the public of Pakistan. They have right to know everything.— Noor Dahri – نور ڈاہری 🇬🇧 (@dahrinoor2) December 16, 2020
“He stayed a few days in Israel where he met with the director of Israeli intelligence Mossad Yossi Cohen and delivered a secret message of Pakistan army chief. The adviser was escorted to the “foreign ministry of Israel where he met several political officials and diplomats and delivered the message of the Pakistani PM.”
He also added that “Pakistan is facing pressure from Arab countries to leave the Turkish bloc and normalize ties with Israel.”
Pak is in a diplomatic, political and financial crises due to her cold relations with KSA & UAE. Since Pak stood with Turkey to provide help in several regional issues, the Arab countries that once had brotherly ties with Pak not only issued warnings but kept distance from her…
— Noor Dahri – نور ڈاہری 🇬🇧 (@dahrinoor2) December 15, 2020
Dahri’s tweets and back-to-back interviews were quickly backed by the major Israeli newspapers in the form of articles.
We heard too! It’s definitely happening. Pakistan 🇵🇰 will definitely normalise relations with Israel 🇮🇱
— Hertfordshire Friends of Israel 🇮🇱🎗️ (@HertfordshireI) December 15, 2020
In its article named ‘What was high-ranking Muslim delegation doing in Israel?’, Israel Hayom said although under censorship restrictions “cannot name the Asian country or the people involved due to potential national security and diplomatic sensitivities, we can report that the adviser headed a delegation of senior officials for meetings in Tel Aviv some two weeks ago.”
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/03-Dec-2020/dr-shahid-masood-strikes-again-this-time-about-pakistani-cabinet-members-visiting-tel-aviv-video
The recent buzz of Pakistan’s alleged normalization moves or vice versa follows the ‘peace’ deals struck between Israel and several Arab states through the active mediation of the Trump administration. The deals, known collectively as the Abraham Accords, have been announced over the course of the past several months, with the United Arab Emirates being the first, followed by Bahrain and Sudan.
Just last week, Morocco became the latest country to publicly announce the establishment of full diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
Saudi Arabia has been reportedly active behind the scenes to lay the groundwork for US-led normalization effort and it has recently granted overflight rights to Israeli airliners.
Last month, Pakistani prime minister made headlines when he revealed that Islamabad has been under pressure from some “friendly” nations to recognize Israel.
Although he stopped short of naming them despite being repeatedly asked whether they were Muslim or non-Muslim countries, many believe Imran Khan was referring to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“Leave this [question]. There are things we cannot say. We have good relations with them,” Khan told the interviewer.
“Let us stand on our own feet in terms of the economy, then you may ask these questions,” Khan further said, referring to Islamabad’s longstanding economic dependence on the oil-rich Gulf states.
Some local and international media took Khan as hinting at the US, Pakistan’s longtime ally in the so-called war against terrorism, a contention quickly rejected by Islamabad.
Terming the reports “fabricated,” a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry said Khan was “misquoted” as there is no such pressure on Islamabad to recognize Tel Aviv.
Pakistan should shake hands with Israel, Mubashir Lucman tells Jewish TV channel
Though Khan clearly articulated Pakistan’s position that unless a just settlement of the Palestine issue — satisfactory to Palestinians — was found, Pakistan could not recognize Israel, social media was abuzz with the latest reports of “secret backchannel diplomacy”.
https://twitter.com/Rashidkh786/status/1339164932865220610
Dear Noor. Majority of Pakistani on social media know about this visit. Now they even know the name and date. Tell us inside story.
— Roshini 🔥 روشنی (@R0shhini) December 16, 2020
PM #ImranKhan have categorically communicated the response and for several times in past few months. Have you witnessed it yourself, do you have evidence for that. You can't play to the false side so easily
— Adnan (@Adnanbukhariiii) December 16, 2020
https://twitter.com/Aati_KHR/status/1339165666868391936
Some pointed fingers at PM’s special aide Zulfikar Bukhari:
https://twitter.com/SayedMujaddadi/status/1339188572121944065
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/17-Dec-2020/maryam-nawaz-faces-backlash-over-deleted-tweet-about-pakistan-israel-normalization-reports
