Is Pakistan edging closer to formal recognition of Israel?

Islamabad has settled on an unstated position of discrete contacts with Israel, reviving a covert relationship dating back to the 1980s

The government has introduced the emotive issue to the public through pro-establishment media, so as to condition them for a prospective shift in policy

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Prime Minister Imran Khan said in November that he was under pressure from one of Pakistan’s allies to formally recognise Israel. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:00pm, 12 Dec 2020Updated: 12:00pm, 12 Dec 2020

Pakistan has begun to take steps toward ending a decades-old diplomatic impasse with Israel, closely coordinating with its key ally, Saudi Arabia, on the matter while settling on an unstated position of discrete contacts but no diplomatic ties.

In doing so, Pakistan is reviving a covert relationship with Israel dating back to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. As portrayed in the 2007 Hollywood film Charlie Wilson‘s War, Israel funnelled Soviet-made weapons it captured during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war to the Afghan mujahideen through Pakistan’s intelligence services.

The change in tack comes as other Muslim-majority countries have normalised relations with Israel. The United Arab Emirates did so in August and Bahrain in September through collective agreements known as the Abraham Accords, and they were followed by Sudan in October and Morocco this past week.

Nationalist academics considered close to Pakistan’s national security establishment were initially alarmed when Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced the establishment of formal relations. In articles and comments posted on online strategic affairs forums, they expressed fears that the extension of Israel’s reach into the Gulf, while primarily directed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, would inevitably pose at least a major cybersecurity threat to Pakistan’s strategic arsenal.

In particular, the academics – retired generals and ambassadors among them – were deeply concerned that Pakistan, a key Chinese ally, could be sandwiched by US-led security blocs involving Israel and India: the Abraham Accords bloc and the expanding Quadrilateral security alliance against China involving Pakistan’s perennial foe, India, as well as Australia and Japan.