A report earlier this week said that senior officials from a large Muslim-majority country that has no official ties with Israel recently visited the Jewish state. The report did not identify the name of the country but it has recently become apparent that the delegation was from Pakistan.

Most thought that the delegation from an “Asian Muslim-majority country” was from Indonesia, but Indonesia has denied that it is considering normalizing ties with Israel.

Meanwhile, Noor Dahri, a researcher in counterterrorism and violent extremism, founder of the British think tank Islamic Theology of Counterterrorism, wrote on Twitter: “According to my Israeli intelligence sources, in the last week of November 2020, the establishment of Pakistan along with Prime Minister Imran Khan, decided to send an official message to Israel in order to start political and diplomatic talks with the state of Israel.”

Dahri continued to say that Pakistan is seeking peace with Israel to relieve itself of its “desperate situation” of an increasingly tense relationship with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Since Pakistan allied with Turkey on several regional issues, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been giving Pakistan the cold shoulder, leaving Pakistan “economically weak and politically isolated.” Pakistan is now “facing pressure from Arab countries to leave the Turkish bloc and normalize ties with Israel.”

The remainder of Dahri’s full statement is as follows:

“Imran Khan finally chose his close aide and summand him from overseas to deliver Pakistan’s sensitive message to Israel. The prime minister’s adviser who lives in the UK and also has close relations with the Trump administration for the Middle East took a flight from Islamabad to London, from where he traveled on his foreign passport directly to Tel Aviv.”

“As his visit was officially approved by the US and Israeli authorities, he was welcomed by the Israeli officials at Tel Aviv airport and he was escorted to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, where he met several political officials and diplomats and delivered the message of the Pakistani Prime Minister.”

“He stayed a few days in Israel where he met with the director of Israeli intelligence Mossad Mr. Yossi Cohen and delivered a secret message from the Pakistani army chief.”

“My sources informed me that Pakistan wants Israel’s support to halt the current cold situation with Arab countries as well as to support her in many international issues such as FATF [Financial Action Task Force] as well as Indian lobbying against Pakistan. In return, Pakistan would start political ties but very soft conditional ones with slow moves due to the fear of religious opposition within the country.”

“The state of Israel warmly welcomed the Pakistani approach and assured her it will do its best to help Pakistan in the current hostile situation. If Pakistan starts open political talks with the state of Israel, it would make her economically stable and she could maintain friendly ties not only with Arab countries but also portray a better image in the international community.”

“Pakistan is in a diplomatic, political and financial crisis due to her cold relations with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Since Pakistan stood with Turkey to provide help in several regional issues, the Arab countries that once had brotherly ties with Pakistan not only issued warnings but kept a distance from her which cost Pakistan a heavy price.”

“For example, the Saudi Crown Prince refused to meet with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan; the UAE issued a travel ban for Pakistanis; Saudi Arabia stopped providing oil to Pakistan; Saudi Arabia asked Pakistan to pay back her aid money of $3b dollars in a few months; and Saudi Arabia and the UAE generated heavy pressure on Pakistan to form close ties with Israel.”

“These developments left Pakistan alone, economically weak and politically isolated. In recent days, the Indian Chief of the Army historically visited Saudi Arabi and UAE which alarmed Pakistan for her loss in regards to the old and warm relations with the Arab countries. In the current situation, Pakistan’s only hope to remove itself from the disastrous situation is to start political talks with Israel. Due to the unpleasant atmosphere with Arab countries, Pak decided to seek help from Israel in order to ease the cold relations with Saudi Arabia and the UAE.”

Meanwhile, another report said that former Pakistani Foreign Minister and member of the Pakistan Muslim League Party Khawaja Muhammad Atzaf stated several days ago: “The current diplomatic isolation and the difficult economic situation of Pakistan have forced us to knock on the doors of an ‘apartheid state.’ Our desperate situation is forcing us to ‘abandon our Palestinian brethren’ and beg Israel to help us improve relations with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.”

Pakistan, which shares a border with Iran, is the only Muslim country with an atomic bomb. If Pakistan does normalize ties with Israel, it certainly wouldn’t be a “warm peace” as a large part of its population is virulently anti-Israel.

Find out more details by watching an interview with Noor below:

'Pakistan is facing pressure from Arab countries to leave the Turkish bloc and normalize ties with Israel,' @dahrinoor2, executive director of @ITCTofficial, to @calev_i24 on why Pakistani PM Imran Khan sent a senior advisor to meet with Israeli officials in #TelAviv: pic.twitter.com/L4u3S26ASW

— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) December 15, 2020

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)