Israeli President Isaac Herzog says he had had an “amazing experience” while meeting a delegation of Pakistani expatriates in the United States.
Herzog was speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) – held in Davos, on Thursday – about the Abraham Accords, a US-backed deal that led to the normalization of Israel’s ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The Foreign Office, after the Abraham Accords were struck in August 2020, had made it clear that Pakistan was not considering recognizing Israel.
“For just and lasting peace, it is imperative to have a two-state solution in accordance with the relevant United Nations and OIC resolutions, with the pre-1967 borders, and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as the capital of a viable, independent and contiguous Palestinian State,” the Foreign Office had said. But Herzog said that the Abraham Accords was yielding in all levels of life and not restricted to mere visits.
In response to a question of WEF President Børge Brende, Herzog said: “I’ll tell you, you know, we are seeing it in all levels of life. Not speaking about just mere visits. We are seeing interest on all economic, scientific, and innovation levels, but I will tell you more about the personal feelings.” Herzog told the WEF president that he met two delegations – Moroccans and Pakistan-Americans – last week that showed him the “great change” yielded from the Abraham Accords.
“One was a delegation of young opinion-makers from Morocco who have aligned on Facebook with an Israeli NGO. They both came and sat with us for an hour and it was just amazing to listen to the experience of breaking barriers and moving forward and intertwining with each other.”
The Israel president said a day after meeting the Moroccan delegation, he received a group of “proud” Pakistani expatriates residing in America who live together in the US with people from 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.”
Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal said no official or semi-official delegation from Pakistan met the Israeli president.
“The participants in this delegation were Pakistani-Americans who have already provided an explanation in this regard,” the planning minister said in a tweet.
Iqbal said the policy of the Government of Pakistan is clear – it does not recognize the state of Israel. “All our sympathies lie with brothers and sisters of Palestine.”
In response to the Israeli president’s statement, ex-human rights minister Shireen Mazari leveled allegations against the incumbent government for fulfilling US demands. “Another commitment made to US under regime change conspiracy by imported government and other co-conspirators fulfilled! Shameful subservience!” the former federal minister said.
Although Herzog did not mention details about the Pakistanis he met, Sharaka – an Israeli non-government organization (NGO) – had organized a visit of a Pakistan-American delegation to “promote peace in the Middle East”.
Meanwhile, PTI leader Shireen Mazari construed the Israeli leader’s comments as “another commitment made to US under regime change conspiracy by imported government and other co-conspirators fulfilled!” “Shameful subservience!” she said on Twitter. PTI’s Imran Ismail, meanwhile, said that all those who had called party chairman Imran Khan a “Jewish agent” their entire lives were now proven to be “certified Jewish agents and slaves”.
The pride of the nation is being auctioned off due to this shameful slavery, he said.