ISLAMABAD -UNS: The Ministry of Commerce on Sunday termed rumours regarding trade between Pakistan and Israel as “sheer propaganda” after the “misrepresentation of a statement” issued by the American Jewish Congress (AJC), an association of the Jewish community based in the US.
“The rumours about beginning of Pakistan-Israel trade is sheer propaganda affer (sic) the press release of AJC which was misrepresented,” the ministry said in a statement. “However, neither we have any trade relations with Israel nor we intend to develop any.”
Pakistan does not have diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv, and believes in 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 (Jerusalem) as the capital of Palestine”.
The statement by the commerce ministry comes after Fishel Benkhald, a Jewish Pakistani, tweeted on March 28 that he “exported [the] first batch of Pakistan food products to [the] Israel market.
“Congratulations to me as a Pakistani. I exported first batch of Pakistani food products to Israel market,” Benkhald wrote. “Dates, dry fruits, and a single container of spice.”
Subsequently, the AJC released a statement on March 30, saying: “This week, the first shipment of Pakistan-origin food products was offloaded in Israel, in a transaction that involved Pakistani-Jewish businessman Fishel Benkhald, based in Pakistan’s business hub of Karachi, and three Israeli businessmen from Jerusalem and Haifa.
“We welcome this small step that can have wider implications for Israeli and Pakistani economies and for the region at large,” the statement said.
The same day, Voice of America ran a story headlined “Rare Trade Occurs Between Pakistan, Israel”.
Members of the opposition PTI seized on the development, with Farrukh Habib demanding answers from the Foreign Office, commenting if it was part of the “London Plan” — a phrase coined by party chief Imran Khan.
“Under which deal is this trade being done after the regime change? Why is the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government silent on this,” Habib asked on April 1.
That same day, Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Interfaith Harmony and the Middle East Tahir Ashrafi — who was also a part of the Imran Khan government — told state media that Benkhald was permitted to go to Israel by the PTI government.
