Pakistan Defense minister calls ‘Israel’ a “threat to the entire Muslim world”
Note: AI technology was used to generate this article’s audio.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has declared ‘Israel’ “a threat to the entire Muslim world” and called for “a united military front” against it, just one day after Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey signed a major joint defense agreement.
Speaking to a Pakistani news outlet on Saturday, Asif said: “In the context of Israel, all Muslim countries must unite. I have no doubt about this.”
He described ‘Israel’ as “a product of the Balfour Declaration, which was established in the 1940s as an illegitimate state, and it could pose a direct threat to any of the countries in the region.”
The Balfour Declaration was the 1917 British statement of support for a “Jewish homeland” in Palestine that preceded ‘Israel’s’ so-called independence in 1948.
Asif, who has previously labeled ‘Israel’ “evil and a curse for humanity” and a “cancerous state,” insisted his stance would not soften even if ‘Israeli’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu loses the elections scheduled for October 27.
“No matter who comes to power in Jerusalem – whether it’s [former premier Naftali] Bennett or any other leader – the differences are only marginal,” he said.
“Their attitude towards the Palestinians and their anti-Islamic mindset will not disappear. They continue to incite Muslim countries against each other,” he added, “and as long as the Palestinian issue is not permanently resolved, the Islamic world must stand against them as one.”
The remarks came a day after the leaders of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey signed the Makka Joint Defense Agreement in the Saudi holy city.
The pact, signed by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stipulates that an armed attack on any one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack on all three.
It aims to strengthen collective deterrence and expand defense cooperation.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan later compared the agreement to NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause.
Officials described the pact as purely defensive and not directed at any specific country, though it was signed amid ongoing regional tensions linked to the conflict involving Iran.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan has never recognized ‘Israel’ or established diplomatic relations with it, maintaining that recognition depends on the creation of a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital.
