The Ministry of Commerce on Sunday rejected rumors about commencement of official trade between Pakistan and Israel saying it is a “sheer propaganda”.
“Rumors about the commencement of Pakistan-Israel trade are sheer propaganda, while the Press Release of American Jewish Congress was misrepresented. Even in their press release, they nowhere mentioned about official trade between Pakistan and Israel,” said the ministry in a news release.
“However, neither we have any trade relations with Israel nor we intend to develop any,” the ministry added.
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 ministry’s statement came in the backdrop of a tweet made by Fishel Benkhald about export of the first batch of Pakistan food products to the Israel market.
According to the ministry, Fishel Benkhald has sent food samples to three businessmen in Jerusalem and Haifa through UAE in personal capacity whom he met in foreign countries during food exhibitions.
“Nevertheless, it was not supported by the Government of Pakistan and no banking or official channel was involved either in such activity.”
“Congratulations to me as a Pakistani. I exported first batch of Pakistani food products to Israel market,” Benkhald said in a tweet in which he tagged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PTI Chairman Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, and other PML-N leaders including Maryam Nawaz, Ahsan Iqbal and Miftah Ismail.
Subsequently, the American Jewish Congress 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”.
The opposition did not let the opportunity goes unattended with many of its members demanded of the government to clarify its position since it was concerning issue for the people of Pakistan.
Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Interfaith Harmony and the Middle East Tahir Ashrafi told the media that Benkhald was permitted to go to Israel by the PTI government. The Pakistani-Jewish businessman exported some goods including dates, dry fruit, and spices to an Arab friendly country and later on, managed to dispatch them to Israel.
