For a state that we have yet to recognise, Israel manages to take up a lot of our attention. Between a former prime minister unequivocally stating Israel had become Pakistan’s greatest enemy and the caretaker premier recently drawing the ire of social media over his analogical parallels, Israel comfortably sits in the middle of most of our interactions. There might be nothing factually wrong with what PM Kakar said when he noted how some “people…would qualify Pakistan as China’s Israel.” While trying to borrow a phrase coined by a leading diplomat, Mr Kakar, however, overlooked the precarious optics of such an insinuation. Joining a long list of critics – mostly from PTI – many journalists and lawyers chimed in, wondering what could make for a deliberate inference with a country that has gained notoriety far and wide as a bully state. The responsibility for this faux pas also falls on the foreign office, which should have done a far better job at prepping the prime minister for his crucial appearance before the American press. The shoddy product unravelling in New York remained a far cry from the days gone by when diplomats would help present their country in the best light possible. No words used to be minced in clear-cut briefs despite full knowledge of who stood at the receiving end. In the past, a similar thoughtless remark by a foreign minister with regard to the influence of the Indian lobby had smeared egg all over the hard work rendered by a committed office. Periodic reforms are essential to ensure the ministry of foreign affairs is ably equipped to protect the country as its first line of defence. That everything from working methods to personnel training is a work in progress has been repeatedly argued but no significant change can yet be seen. As for PM Kakar, your heart may have been in the right place but no administration – however empowered – has (at least, at present) the strength to break the buzzword when it comes to Israel. *