Israel President Isaac Herzog has confirmed that he recently received a delegation of Pakistanis living in the United States and called it an amazing experience.
The Israeli President made these remarks at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland recently.
WEF President Børge Brende talked to Herzog about the Abraham Accords, a deal brokered by the U.S. in 2020 which saw the normalization of relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain, and asked the Israeli President how he would see this for enlarging the scope of cooperation.
In response, Herzog said that he had received two delegations last week which showed “the great change”.
After talking about a delegation from Morocco, the Israeli President said he received a delegation of “proud” Pakistani expats who live in the U.S., together with other members of other countries in their region
“And I must say this was an amazing experience because we haven’t had a group of Pakistani leaders in Israel ever in such scope, and that all stems from the Abraham Accords, meaning Jews and Muslims can dwell together in the region,” Herzog added.
Foreign office response
In a statement, Pakistan’s foreign office “categorically” rejected the notion of any delegation from Pakistan visiting Israel.
It said that the reported visit in question was organized by a foreign NGO that is not based in Pakistan. Pakistan’s position on the Palestinian issue is clear and unambiguous. There is no change whatsoever in our policy on which there is a complete national consensus.
“Pakistan steadfastly supports the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination. The establishment of an independent, viable, and contiguous Palestinian State with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in accordance with the relevant UN and OIC resolutions, is imperative for just and lasting peace in the region,” the statement added.
“Some elements trying to twist the statement”
Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal also commented on the development, in a tweet the minister shared a clip from the interview in question and said that some elements are trying to twist the statement to make it look as if a government delegation had held the meeting.
اسرائیلی صدر کا ورلڈ اکنامک فورم میں اصل بیان ملاحظہ فرمائیں جس میں انہوں نے واضح طور پہ کہا کہ امریکہ میں مقیم پاکستانی نژاد امریکی شہریوں کا وفد ان سے ملا تھا جسے بعض عناصر نے توڑ موڑ کے یہ تاثر پھیلایا جیسے کوئی سرکاری یا نیم سرکاری وفد حکومت کی طرفسے ان کو ملا تھا۔ pic.twitter.com/PkKtcIsmHD
— Ahsan Iqbal (@betterpakistan) May 29, 2022
“Govt will recognize Israel”
Pakistan Tehreel-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan also commented on the matter, while addressing a rally in Charsada, and said that he has seen the picture of the Pakistani delegation that visited Israel.
The PTI chief said that an employee of PTV was also part of the delegation, and alleged that the coalition government will strike a deal with India at the expense of Kashmiris and also recognize Israel.
