Islamabad, 3 April 2023 (GNP): Islamabad referred to the claims as “sheer propaganda” on Sunday amid social media rumors about the atypical trade between Pakistan and Israel went viral in response to a tweet from a Jewish merchant announcing the successful shipping of food samples to Jerusalem and Haifa.
Pakistani Jew Fishel Benkhald, who resides in the port city of Karachi in the country’s south, is a passionate supporter of economic relations between Pakistan and Israel. His line of work is the Kosher food industry.
Fishel stated that he had dispatched the first shipment of dates, dried fruit, and spices from Pakistan to Israel via the UAE on March 28.
He expressed his pride in becoming the first Pakistani to be permitted to sell goods to Israel.
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“Congratulations to me as a Pakistani. I exported the first batch of Pakistan food products to the Israel market”, he tweeted.
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.
https://twitter.com/Jew_Pakistani/status/1640703870325211136
The clarification comes two days after a recent statement from the American Jewish Congress (AJC) regarding the alleged unloading of a shipment containing Pakistani-made food products in Israel was posted on social media.
Moreover, it claimed that both Pakistani and foreign media outlets covered the purported exchange extensively.
The AJC had noted that although there were no formal relations between the two countries yet, its entrepreneurs and technicians “had forged ahead in pursuit of common prosperity.”
“Thanks to this initiative [alleged first trade] eighteen years ago, constraints and licenses that restricted Israel-Pakistan trade were abolished”, it added.
American Jewish Congress Statement on Trade Between the State of #Israel and #Pakistan.
Link: https://t.co/Bie9NIdrwJ#AmericanJewishCongress #AbrahamAccords #UAE @JackRosenNYC pic.twitter.com/V724PYwwqs
— American Jewish Congress (@AJCongress) March 31, 2023
The Foreign Office (FO) responded to the report by explicitly denying that Pakistan has any diplomatic or commercial links to Israel.
The Ministry of Commerce stated separately that the news release from the American Jewish Congress was misinterpreted and that rumors regarding the start of trade between Pakistan and Israel are “sheer propaganda”.
Press Release: It has been reported on social media that the first export shipment of Pakistan food products reached Israel, sent by Pakistani-Jewish businessman Mr. Fishel BenKhald recently as per the statement issued by the American Jewish Congress from its New York… (1/4)
— Ministry of Commerce (MOC) (@mincompk) April 2, 2023
The statement said that: “Even in their press release, they nowhere mentioned official trade between Pakistan and Israel”.
“Neither do we have any trade relations with Israel nor do we intend to develop any”, it added.
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Sualeh Ahmad Faruqui, secretary of commerce and trade, had earlier told The News that Pakistan had never sent an export shipment to Israel and that any assertions to the contrary were just false information spread for political ends.
The commerce secretary’s claim was supported by the customs officials at the Karachi Port.
According to some, the trade was related to a change in Israeli policy, which is why the tweet sparked a heated online debate.
FO spokesman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch reiterated that “There is no change in the policy” in response to such suspicions.
Pakistan has long held the stance that it would not recognize Israel until an independent Palestinian state has been founded on the pre-1967 boundaries, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Pakistan officially supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
Benkhald, a member of a dwindling Jewish community, had his religion changed from Islam to Judaism on his national Pakistani documents in 2017.
He is the first Pakistani to have formally undertaken a visit there with the approval of Islamabad, despite a declaration on his Pakistani passport that claims the document is authorized for travel to all nations excluding Israel.
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 festivals.
The delivery was not authorized by the Pakistani government, according to the ministry, and no financial or formal channels were utilized.
