Sunday, the Ministry of Commerce labeled rumors about trade between Pakistan and Israel as “pure propaganda” due to the “misrepresentation of a statement” issued by the American Jewish Congress (AJC), an organization representing the Jewish community in the United States.
“The rumors about the beginning of Pakistan-Israel commerce are pure propaganda. It is based on a misrepresented AJC press release,” the ministry said in a statement. However, we have no commerce relations with Israel and have no plans to establish any.
Pakistan has no diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv and supports a “two-state solution by 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 commerce ministry’s statement comes after Jewish Pakistani Fishel Benkhald tweeted on March 28 that he “exported [the] first shipment of Pakistani food products to [the] Israeli market.”
“Congratulations to me, a Pakistani. Benkhald wrote, “I exported the first shipment of Pakistani food products to the Israeli market. Dates, dried fruits, and a solitary spice jar.
In his tweet, he mentioned Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, former prime minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, and other PML-N leaders Maryam Nawaz, Ahsan Iqbal, and Miftah Ismail.
This week, the first shipment of Pakistan-origin food products was offloaded in Israel, in a transaction involving Pakistani-Jewish businessman Fishel Benkhald, based in Pakistan’s business hub Karachi, and three Israeli businessmen from Jerusalem and Haifa,” the AJC said in a statement released on March 30.
The statement said, “We applaud this small step that could have far-reaching implications for the Israeli and Pakistani economies and the region as a whole.”
The same day, Voice of America published an article titled “Rare Trade Between Pakistan and Israel.”
PTI member Farrukh Habib asked the Foreign Office if the move was part of Imran Khan’s “London Plan.
“Under what terms is this commerce conducted following the regime change? Habib questioned on April 1 why the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government remained reticent on the matter.
Tahir Ashrafi, another member of the Imran Khan government, told state media that Benkhald could travel to Israel that day.
He told APP that the Pakistani-Jewish businessman exported some products. Including dates, dried fruit, and spices, to an Arab-friendly country and then managed to send them to Israel.
He was quoted as saying, “According to reports, neither the Ministry of Commerce nor the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued Fishel a no-objection certificate (NOC),” dispelling the notion that trade relations between Pakistan and Israel were being established.
Separately, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told Independent Urdu that the current government prohibits trade with Israel.
“We will investigate this,” he said. “Now we are receiving information that Imran Khan granted similar permission to someone during the previous regime. But nothing of the sort has come to our attention, information, or inquiry at this time.”
Today’s clarification from the Ministry of Commerce stated, “Even in their press release (AJC). Official trade between Pakistan and Israel was never mentioned.”
It added: “In his capacity, a Jewish Pakistani named Fishel Benkhald sent food samples to three merchants in Jerusalem and Haifa via UAE. Whom he met in foreign countries during food exhibitions.
However, neither the Pakistani government nor any banks or official channels were involved in the transaction.
The “issue of origin will be rigorously implemented” in its discussions with the UAE, according to the statement. “UAE has reduced tariffs on 96% of products traded with Israel, which has benefited UAE-Israeli traders,” the report continued.
