Israeli president calls on Pakistani expat delegation

Confirming his meeting with a delegation of Pakistani expats living in the US, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he had had an “incredible experience”.

The President of Israel spoke during the World Economic Forum (WEF) —held in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday—on the Abraham Agreements, an agreement supported by the United States that has led to the normalization of Israel’s relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Pakistan has declined to accept Israel as a sovereign state from the outset and advocated for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict —and all governments which took office agreed with this stance.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following the conclusion of the Abraham Accords in August 2020, made it clear that Pakistan was not contemplating recognizing Israel.

For a just and sustainable peace, it is imperative to have a two-state solution in line with relevant UN and OIC resolutions with borders prior to 1967, and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as the capital of a viable, independent, and contiguous Palestinian state,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

But Herzog said that the Agreements of Abraham yielded to all levels of life and were not confined to visits.

Answering a question from WEF President Børge Brende, Herzog said, “I’ll tell you, you know, we see it at every level of life. Not to mention a tour. We are seeing interest at all levels of economics, science, and innovation, but I’ll talk more about personal feelings.”

Herzog told the WEF President that last week he met with two delegations—the Moroccans and the Pakistani-Americans—who showed him the “big change” brought about by the Abraham Accords.

“One was a delegation of young Moroccan opinion leaders who lined up on Facebook with an Israeli NGO. They both sat with us for an hour, and it was simply amazing to hear the experience of breaking down barriers and going forward and interlace with one another.”

The Israeli president stated one day after having met the Moroccan delegation he received a group of “proud” expatriates from Pakistan residing in America who live together in the United States with people from other countries in their region. And I have to say that it was an amazing experience because we never had a group of Pakistani leaders in Israel with that scope and that everything flows out of the Abraham Accords, which means that Jews and Muslims can live together in the region.”