by DD Sow

Created on: November 10, 2008   Last Updated: December 10, 2008

In 2005, The News, a Pakistani newspaper, interviewed Israel's deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres, he said "Pakistan and Israel must have direct, personal contact, publicly, without being ashamed about it". The very next day, there was violence at the newspaper office in Karachi, several people were seen destroying the newspaper offices.

The real question is why is it a problem for Pakistan to have diplomatic relations with Israel when they already have diplomatic relations with countries like India, an arch nemesis or Bangladesh, formerly West Pakistan?

The problem isn't having diplomatic relations with Israel, the problem is the perception of having diplomatic relations and dealing with the rest of the world who don't.

Israel's diplomatic partnership would give Pakistan to be amongst other Muslim countries like Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Egypt, Jordan but it also cautions them in their relations with many gulf states like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, many of them key aid donors.

Strategically partnership with Israel has served very well for Muslim countries like Jordan (Israel coming to Jordan's aide during Black September in defense against Syrian troops back in the 1970s), Egypt (Warning of an assassination attempt on Anwar Sadat by Libyan Intelligence back in the 1980s). At present times Israel has proven to be a vital partner in trade, intelligence sharing and a transit point to western donors.

Pakistan as it stands today is in conflict domestically and internationally. Domestically they are encountering rebellion in its largest province, Balochistan, their infrastructure is directly at threat with the rise of the Pakistan Taleban attacks, and there are mounting insurgencies near the Afghanistan border. Internationally, the fight for Kashmir against India is at a no-progress zone and could entice itself to a wider conflict anytime.

Israel, must to its capability has a high-tech weapons systems industry that can almost clear many insurgency related problems for Pakistan to be at a minimum should the central government in Islamabad decide to take a very military modeled approach to the problem but such insurgencies that Pakistan is facing at present, many commentators regard and voice a political solution and further military strike responses could expand it to a full scale civil-war.

Politically Diplomatic relations with Israel is a minefield. The vast majority of Pakistanis will not succumb to such measures unless they see the fruits of the benefits first before exploring options that may fuel even further suspicions of the Jewish state. Already a large sympathasizer to the Palestinians, unless Pakistan is fully confident to play a role in the peace process via diplomacy there is little support even on the Israeli electorate side to support another Muslim country with a largely bad record in human rights and democracy.

Never the less diplomatic relations regardless of high or low co-operation does in fact open doors to options and for both nations this is vital. For Israel, gaining more support from Muslim nations is vital to tackle the Palestinian issue and for Pakistan, access to monetary aide and sophisticated weapon systems is important to tackle conflicts it faces both inside and outside its borders.

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