Will Pakistan become the next Muslim majority country to recognize Israel? Probably no, but if Pakistanis look at the issue dissatisfied, they would see that exchanging ambassadors with Jerusalem makes sense.
Decisions by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco to normalize ties with Israel have fueled speculation that Pakistan is ready to follow suit. In a television interview in November, Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was under ‘pressure’ from the US and unnamed countries ‘with whom we have good relations’ to recognize Israel. Many commentators have suggested that he means Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
In the same month, leading Pakistani journalists also raised the question of normalization. Given the sensitivity of the subject and the reluctance of most journalists to venture the displeasure of the military, this indicated that Pakistan’s powerful generals probably ordered their mouthpieces to drive a test balloon.
But Islamabad is unlikely to move forward. In his interview in November, Khan said that Pakistan, which recognizes Israel, depends on a ‘just settlement’ for the Palestinians. In December, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told the Emirati Foreign Minister that Pakistan “will not and will not be able to establish a relationship with Israel until a concrete and permanent solution to the Palestinian issue is found. not.
Pakistan’s hostility to Israel is rooted in the Islamic Republic’s perception of itself as a vanguard of global pan-Islamism. Striking solidarity with the Palestinians has long been a cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy.