ISLAMABAD: Senior Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) leader Maulana Muhammad Khan Sheerani has advocated the normalisation of diplomatic ties with Israel.
Maulana Sheerani, the former chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), gave Quranic references to support the normalization of relations with the Jewish state. Declaring it an international issue, Sherani said he supports recognition of the state of Israel. “This is an international issue, I support recognition of Israel,” he said.
“Educated Muslims need to understand that the Quran and history prove to us that the Land of Israel belongs only to the Jews. King David built the house of God in Jerusalem for the Israelis and not for the Palestinians,” he said.
The news was also quoted by Noor Dahri, who runs a British think-tank on homeland security and has advocated ties with Israel, and was covered by Israeli media.
Last week, Dahri had claimed ‘credible’ sources that Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman’s close aide had traveled to Israel with Nawaz Sharif’s secret delegations during his second term as prime minister. PML-N Maryam Nawaz had tweeted the claim before deleting the tweet.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has denied reports of behind-the-scenes efforts to establish ties between his country and Israel. He rejected reports about the possibility of formal relations with Israel and denied reports that an adviser had visited Israel at the end of November.
PM Imran Khan said that his country would not recognize Israel until the conflict with the Palestinians was resolved. He questioned why anyone would visit Israel as there are no ties between the two countries.
