1 PAKISTAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY (PNA) State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East. Located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, The State of Israel was declared in 1948, after Britain withdrew from its mandate of Palestine. This country is regarded by Jews, Christians and Muslims as the biblical Holy Land. The UN proposed partitioning the area into Arab and Jewish states, and Arab armies that rejected the UN plan were defeated. After a while, Israel took control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 war, and subsequently administered those territories through military authori- ties. Israel and Palestinian officials signed a number of interim agreements in the 1990s that creat- ed an interim period of Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. While the most recent formal efforts to negotiate final status issues occurred in 2013- 2014, the US continues its efforts to advance peace. Prime Minister Benjamin NETANYAHU has led the Israeli Government since 2009. Rejection of Palestine Since the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, Palestine has been struggling to gain statehood. After World War I, Palestine, along with several other Arab nations, was placed under British rule. When Britain pulled out of the area, every Arab state was granted independence except Palestine. The political relationship is rooted in conflict between Israel and Palestine. The conflict is over whether or not Palestinians should be able to form its own separate country in government within a part of the land that is currently controlled by Israel. Israel punitively demolished at least 14 Palestinian homes in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which left 36 people, including 15 children, homeless, according to B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization. Punitive demolitions consti- tute collective punishment and are prohibited under international law.Today, the West Bank is nominally controlled by the Palestinian Authority and is under Israeli occupation. This comes in the form of Israeli troops, who enforce Israeli security restrictions on Palestinian movement and activities, and Israeli “settlers,” Jews who build ever-expanding communities in the West Bank that effectively deny the land to Palestinians. Gaza is controlled by Hamas, an Islamist fundamentalist party, and is under Israeli blockade but not ground troop occupation. The primary approach to solving the conflict today is a so-called “two-state solution” that would establish Palestine as an independent state in Gaza and most of the West Bank, leaving the rest of the land to Israel. Though the two-state plan is clear in theory, the two sides are still deeply divided over how to 2 make it work in practice. The alternative to a two-state solution is a “one-state solution,” wherein all of the land becomes either one big Israel or one big Palestine. Most observers think this would cause more problems than it would solve, but this outcome is becoming more likely over time for political and demographic reasons. Relationship between Pakistan and Palestine Since the very beginning, Pakistan has been supporting Palestinian cause. This is mainly because of three important reasons, Firstly, Pakistan has always been against oppression, colonialism, dis- crimination and had supported the right of self-determination of every nation. Considering the current state of Palestine, Pakistan has still not recognised Israel as a sovereign state. Pakistan has always condemned Israel and supported the Palestinians on all international forums. On another occasion, Israel's diplomatic mission in Washington received information that Pakistan was trying to provide military assistance to the Arabs, including rumors that a Pakistani battalion would be sent to Palestine to fight alongside them. Pakistan bought 250,000 rifles in Czechoslovakia that ap- parently were meant for the Arabs. Also, it became known that Pakistan bought three planes in Italy for the Egyptians. The Pakistan Air-Force participated in the 1967 and 1973 Arab–Israeli wars, Pakistani pilots flying Jordanian and Syrian planes downed some Israeli planes, whereas in the 1982 battle for Beirut between Israel and the PLO, fifty Pakistani volunteers serving in the PLO were taken prisoner by Israel. All these actions of Pakistani army, proves that Pakistan and Pales- tine have a strong bond and a support system. Israel’s Foreign Relations Israel maintains full diplomatic relations with two of its Arab neighbours, Egypt and Jordan, after signing peace treaties in 1979 and 1994 respectively. In 2020, Israel signed agreements establish- ing diplomatic relations with four Arab League countries, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Su- dan and Morocco. On the other hand, the countries who refuse to maintain diplomatic and trade relations with Israel include Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen, as well as 10 members of the Or- ganisation of Islamic Cooperation (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Niger and Pakistan), as well as Cuba, North Korea and Venezuela. After the estab- lishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab League Countries, considering the situa- tion of Palestine, a very negative and unsupportive reaction was sensed from Pakistan. 3 Rejection of Pakistan to recognise Israel as a sovereign state - Why? As mentioned above, Pakistan has always treated Palestine as its utmost priority. It would be unacceptable if Pakistan recognised Israel as a sovereign state in such times with Palestine in a crisis. Consequently, Diplomaticies continue to remain unestablished due to Pakistan's refusal to officially recognize Israel until a viable two-state solution is reached in regards to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Pakistan’s foreign ministry has reiterated the country is not considering rec- ognising the state of Israel, in line with existing policy, according to a statement, even as Arab allies have moved to do so. In a statement released, Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri “categorically rejected baseless speculation regarding possibility of recognition of the State of Israel by Pakistan”. The Spokesperson said the Prime Minister had clearly articulated Pakistan’s position that unless a just settlement of the Palestine issue, satis- factory to the Palestinian people, was found, Pakistan could not recognize Israel. The Prime Minister had stressed that Pakistan’s policy in this regard was rooted in Quaid-e-Azam’s vision. The Prime Minister’s remarks are an unequivocal reaffirmation of Pakistan’s position on the subject, leaving no room for baseless speculation. For a just, comprehensive and lasting peace, Pakistan will continue to support a two-state solution in accordance with the relevant United Nations and OIC resolutions as well as international law, with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds Al- Sharif as the capital of Palestine. Consequences of not recognising Israel While Pakistan tries to maintain its dignity and support, the basic advantages come at stake. What has Pakistan achieved from its perpetual boycott of Israel? What has it achieved for the Palestinians? Doesn’t logic demand a reassessment, not least when Israel can help save our economy and aid our survival? It has suffered from a chasm between policy and strategy, xeno- phobic tendencies, domestic politics interfering negatively with the foreign policy process, and vice versa – including the unsettling influence of the military on civilian politics and the outsize impact of religious groups. Policy-makers, rather than focusing on the policy process and the outcomes, serially succumb to socio-religious pressures, intensifying policy volatility, and that volatility, read as vulnerabil- ity, opens Pakistan up to manipulation by stronger world powers. The result is that on the is- sues that Pakistan flags as central to its foreign policy principles – the Kashmir issue and the rights of Palestinians, Islamabad's achievements have been barely discernible. Today, India and Israel have celebrated more than a quarter-century of official ties. Pakistan, which focused its domestic energies and diplomatic capital in fighting for the right to Palestinian and Kashmiri self -determination, won nothing. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been annexed by India. Isra- el is on the verge of annexing the West Bank. 4 Israel’s view on Pakistan Pakistan may view Israel as an enemy, but Tel Aviv has no reason to reciprocate the sentiment. Is- rael’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on an official trip to India in early 2018, brushed aside the idea that Israel views Pakistan as an enemy state, saying “We are not an enemy of Pakistan and Pakistan should not be our enemy either.” This led to demands for Pakistan to revisit its policy to- wards Israel. But Pakistan’s Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani “warned the Muslim world that the emerging nexus between the United State, Israel and India is a major threat to the ummah.” This type of irrational hyperbole only seeds conspiracy theories in the fertile ground of Pakistan. Media and Journalists The idea of recognising Israel is a hard sell for the people of Pakistan who have been brought up for over 70 years on the idea of having permanent enemies. India is one, Israel is the other. And it is ingrained into their brains that no good can come from either of them. In the end, for Pakistanis, it will not be so much about Israel’s ideology or even the concerns around its human rights excesses, rather the political divide he/she is part of in a polarised Pakistan. Pakistani TV asks if it’s time to accept Israel. The answer to this is apparently consistent; not to back down until Palestine is grant- ed with their rights. However, Khan is bound to become a direct target of his critics who already add losing Kashmir to India to his list of ‘successes’ that no other Pakistani prime minister could achieve.