By: Muhammad Fahim
The debate of recognizing Israel is always viewed in Pakistan as a cost and benefit analysis. The immediate question that comes to one’s mind is that what can Israel offer to Pakistan? What can Pakistan gain or lose from normalizing relations with Israel? Thus, formalizing relations with Israel has always remained a hot topic in Pakistan. Pakistan has good relations with the Arab Muslim world that helped her several times and Iran is an immediate neighbor offering the cheapest energy options for Pakistan. On the contrary, Israel doesn’t offers anything substantial nor share any borders with Pakistan. Moreover, she once conspired to bomb Pakistan’s nuclear sites and is an occupier of internationally recognized Palestinian land. So, why should Pakistan ruin her relations with fellow brotherly nations for a faraway country that has no historical and cultural links with her neither offer anything compelling enough?
Critics believe that the fear of Islamist and inner instability is one of the main reasons that bar Pakistani leadership from establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. They quote a meeting between the Israeli and Pakistani diplomats in the Indian capital, in 1993, where the Pakistani diplomat told the Israeli delegates that if we move towards normalization the Pakistani ultra-Islamist groups will create turmoil in the country. This is not quite true. Pakistan is not that much a fragile state. Every known and then we have protests and marches in the country like any other democratic societies but still the state of Pakistan is standing tall with her full might. During the President Musharraf era, Pakistani and the Israeli foreign ministers had a formal public meeting in 2005 but nothing had happened. Thus, the argument that the Islamist will create turmoil in the country is very weak. The stance of Pakistan to not recognize Israel is based upon principles, geopolitical interests and historical facts.
There are scores of international interests of Pakistan that provides good reasons to her to not accord recognition or establish diplomatic relation with the state of Israel. Dr. Moshe Yegar, a retired Israeli diplomat, termed the Pakistani state interests as constraints in his paper “Pakistan & Israel”, and adjudged Pakistan’s solidarity with fellow Muslim Arab countries as her biggest “constraint”. Well, this is not a constraint at all. Pakistan has cordial relations with the Arab states which helped Pakistan number of times in many ways. Secondly, Pakistan shares common religious and cultural beliefs with the Muslim world. Thus, why would Pakistan, a sole nuclear Muslim state, would want to jeopardize her relations with the whole Arab and Muslim world for a country that is faraway and shares no border with her?
However, critics argue that due to an economic crisis and mountains of debt, Pakistan has no option but to succumb to the Gulf countries’ dictations, especially Saudis and Emiratis. Pakistan and the Gulf States, especially Saudi Arabia, relations are beyond friendship and economic interests. Pakistan’s foreign office stated several times that Pakistan’s relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arab world are based on brotherhood, oneness, Islamic values et cetera. Pakistan hugely contributed to the Arab Israel war by aiding the Arabs. Pakistan is a key and founding member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Furthermore, Pakistan pledged her commitment number of times to the protection of Islam’s two holiest places, Mecca and Medina. Such an analysis that Pakistan is under foreign dictation about her Israel policy can be only based on someone’s perception but not reality.
Third, Pakistan does not want to be alienated in the Arab Muslim world. If Pakistan is going to establish any ties with Israel it will be a coordinated step with Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries. Pakistan has just quashed the menace of terrorism and sustained heavy losses in terms of human lives, infrastructure, and economy due to terrorism. Thus, Pakistan needs partners and allies in the region, instead of ruining relations with the Muslim world. Though, ample Muslim Arab states which were once hostile towards the Jewish state from decades are now warming up their relations with Israel. Still, Pakistan cannot back off from her principled position she took decades ago and if there is any move towards normalization, it will be a coordinated step with the Arab and Muslim world.
Critics argue that Iran, as an immediate neighbor of Pakistan, is also a factor that somehow compels Pakistan to think before according any formal recognition to the state of Israel. After the inception of Pakistan, Iran was the very first nation that accorded recognition to Pakistan and the then Shah of Iran, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, was the first foreign leader that visited the nascent nation, Pakistan. During the pro-U.S Iranian regime of Reza Shah, Pakistan had enjoyed intimate relations with her immediate neighbor – Iran. Even after the fall of Shah and the establishment of an Islamist government by Ayatollah Khomeini, Pak-Iran relations did not change. There are no permanent friends and foes in international relations but neighbors cannot be changed nor one can ignore a country that they share not only religious and cultural values with but land border as well. Iran is an immediate neighbor of Pakistan and has the world’s fourth natural Gas and oil reserves which is the cheapest option for Pakistan to fulfill its energy needs. Secondly, Pakistan has the second biggest Shia Muslim population in the world – after Iran. Souring relations with your neighbor for a faraway country that once conspired to bomb the nuclear sites of Pakistan is not a prudent foreign policy by any means. Having a hostile and tense relationship with India in the east, Pakistan cannot afford to let turn another neighbor hostile in the west to sandwich herself between the two. Pakistan can greatly benefit from the Iranian oil and Gas once the U.S economic sanctions on Iran are over. The question remains, what Israel can offer to Pakistan? What Pakistan can gain from recognizing Israel? Obviously, there are more cons than pros. So, who would want to ink a deal for a loss instead of profit?
The writer is a freelance journalist, he tweets at @FahimKhanDawar