In response to a Jewish businessman’s tweet about successfully transporting food samples to Jerusalem and Haifa, Pakistan on Sunday refuted reports of trade with Israel.
Fishel Benkhald, a Jew from Karachi gained notoriety for tweeting about his first shipment of kosher food to Israel. It is important to mention here that, there are no diplomatic ties between the two nations.
“Congratulations to me as a Pakistani. I exported the first batch of Pakistan food products to Israel market,” he said last week.
Congratulation to Me as a Pakistani
I exported first batch of Pakistan ???????? food products to Israel ???????? market
Dates, Dry fruit, Spice single container. My video@CMShehbaz @ImranKhanPTI @BBhuttoZardari @NawazSharifMNS @MaryamNSharif @betterpakistan @MiftahIsmail @tdap_official pic.twitter.com/l4KRqI4oet
— Fishel BenKhald (@Jew_Pakistani) March 28, 2023
A video clip of Benkhald visiting an Israeli market was posted online. He passes by stalls that had Hebrew-written labels on canisters of dates, dried fruit, and spices.
Pakistan Denies Any Trade with Israel
Pakistan denies having any kind of business or diplomatic ties to Israel. In answer to questions from the media regarding bilateral trade, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, stated, “There is no change in the policy.”
Pakistan has long held the position that it will not recognize Israel until an independent Palestinian state has been founded within the pre-1967 boundaries, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Pakistan officially supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Rumors of bilateral trade, according to Pakistan’s Commerce Minister, are “sheer propaganda.”
“Neither do we have any trade relations with Israel nor do we intend to develop any,” it said in a statement.
In 2017, Benkhald’s national Pakistani documents had his religion status changed from Islam to Judaism. He is a member of the nation’s declining Jewish population and lives in a 220 million-person country with a majority-Muslim population.
He is the first Pakistani to have formally undertaken a pilgrimage there with the approval of Islamabad, despite a statement on his Pakistani passport that claims the document is authorized for travel to all nations barring Israel.
“Food, trade, music and tourism bring people together. Let’s build bridges,” Benkhald said in his tweet.
According to the Commerce Ministry, Benkhald delivered food samples to three businessmen in Jerusalem and Haifa via the United Arab Emirates, where he had previously met them at food fairs.
The shipment was not authorized by the Pakistani government, according to the ministry, and no financial or official channels were utilized.
The American Jewish Congress had earlier hailed the shipment’s news, noting that it might have larger economic ramifications for both countries as well as the entire area.
It claimed that Benkhald was at the centre of a modest but rapidly expanding Pakistani kosher food export business.
Yet, perceptions of Benkhald’s endeavour in Pakistan varied. Shireen Mazari, a prominent member of the former prime minister Imran Khan’s political party and a former minister for human rights, blasted the administration and questioned how a Pakistani national could export to Israel directly and travel there on a Pakistani passport.
Benkhald was allowed to travel to Israel under Imran Khan’s tenure, according to Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, an interfaith spokesperson for the current administration.
To read our latest blog on “Pak-Chinese trade reopened at Khunjerab Pass after 3 years,” click here.
