Ahmed Quraishi never expected that a week-long interfaith visit to Israel would end his two-decade journalism career. But in 2022, after joining a Pakistani-American delegation and meeting President Isaac Herzog, the Pakistani state broadcaster fired him – sparking a political storm in Islamabad.
“I had no idea it would escalate that way,” he recalls.
Today, as Pakistan weighs joining a multinational stabilization force in Gaza – a deployment that would require direct military coordination with Israel – Quraishi believes the ground is shifting much more quickly than many realize.
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post from Islamabad, Quraishi reflects on the backlash to his trip, Pakistan’s long-hidden points of contact with Israel, and whether the Gaza proposal could open the door to historic change.
He notes that his desire to visit Israel grew from his upbringing in Kuwait, home to one of the region’s largest Palestinian communities in the 1980s.
“I grew up with Palestinian classmates and teachers. I knew their story well. But you cannot resolve an 80-year conflict without hearing the Israeli story from Israelis,” he says.
How Quraishi's 2022 visit to Israel became politicized
When Quraishi visited Israel in 2022, it was a rare event for a Pakistani.
Pakistani passports still include a sentence explicitly stating they are not valid for travel to Israel. Even President Herzog mentioned Quraishi’s delegation during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “This delegation showed me [that there is] a huge change,” Herzog said. “It was an amazing experience, and it shows that Jews and Muslims can live together.”
From Israeli politicians, Quraishi received compliments; but from Pakistani politicians, he received attacks.
“Some politicians whom I knew personally launched personal attacks and incited radical elements. It became very politicized,” he says. “My visit coincided with the collapse of Imran Khan’s government. He falsely claimed that the US had removed him, and he used my trip as a tool, saying it was part of a normalization agenda.”
At one rally, Khan declared: “For the first time, a Pakistani delegation visited Israel. It even included a journalist from Pakistani TV,” referring to Quraishi. “They will do whatever Washington tells them to do.”
Quraishi was fired from his position at Pakistan Television – but he also sees a positive side.
“It reactivated those strongly opposed to engagement with Israel, but it also encouraged many Pakistanis who quietly believe we should have ties with both Israel and the Palestinians, and play a constructive role for both peoples,” he says. “I discovered that a vast number of Pakistanis are open to this idea. They reject the extremist narrative of boycotts, no dialogue, and no peace. So it was good and bad.”
Why Pakistan is still a holdout on Israeli normalization
Despite warming Arab attitudes toward Israel in recent years, Pakistan remains one of only a few Muslim states whose passports explicitly bar travel to Israel. Since 1947, Pakistan has refused to recognize Israel or signal normalization before a Palestinian state is established.
According to Quraishi, the reasons are historical and outdated.
“We imported the Arab Cold War populism of the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. But by the time these ideas reached us, the Arab world itself was already changing. That change is only now reaching Pakistan,” he says.
Other experts claim that the reason for the Pakistani hardliners’ position is that there was no real Jewish community in the country, and because Pakistan feels that the Israeli-Palestinian story is similar to its own history with India.
Some movement occurred in 2005, after prime minister Ariel Sharon oversaw the Gaza disengagement plan. Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf met Sharon in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly – a meeting that led to the first official, minister-level talks between the two countries’ foreign ministers in Turkey.
“For a country often portrayed as rigid on Israel, Pakistan actually played a quiet role in early Muslim-Israeli dialogue, even before the Abraham Accords,” Quraishi says.
He adds that few Pakistanis know that the earliest discreet contacts between Islamabad and Jerusalem were triggered not by politics but by nuclear concerns. “After Pakistan’s 1998 nuclear tests, making it the first and only Muslim country with a nuclear bomb, both countries understood the risks of miscalculation between two nuclear-armed states. There were quiet channels to prevent misunderstandings during missile tests. It was practical and responsible.”
In 2016, a fake news story claiming that Israel had threatened Pakistan with a nuclear strike prompted Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif to tweet: “Israel forgets Pakistan is a nuclear state, too.”
Notes Quraishi: “Because Pakistan and Israel are the only nuclear-armed states in the wider Middle East, there is no choice but to talk. If a new security architecture is emerging – built around moderate states, economic integration, and stability – communication between these two countries is essential.”
Gaza deployment: A potential turning point
With discussions underway in Islamabad about the country’s contributing troops to Gaza under the International Stabilization Force (ISF), Quraishi says coordination with Israel is unavoidable.
“Any country sending troops to Gaza must coordinate with the IDF. The US-led coordination center is in Israel. Liaison officers will operate there. Communication is inevitable.”
He believes this could mark a historic shift.
“It would be the first structured, official, real-time coordination between Pakistan and Israel. That alone is a breakthrough.”
What Pakistan seeks from Washington
“When Pakistan and the US cooperate, it’s good for both countries – and good for regional stability,” says Quraishi, summing up the relations. In recent months, Pakistan has been working hard to improve relations with US President Donald Trump. According to reports, during April-May Pakistan outspent its rival India 3:1 in lobbying and public-relations spending in Washington.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif even announced that Pakistan had nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. “He is a man of peace,” Sharif said, standing beside the US president during a summit in Egypt in October.
The investment appears to have paid off: While tariffs on Indian goods rose to 50%, Trump reduced Pakistani tariffs to 19%.
With Trump back in office, Quraishi says that Pakistan’s priorities are clear. First, a return to Middle Eastern engagement after two decades of strategic withdrawal.
“Over the past two to three decades, Pakistan withdrew from the Middle East. Now it wants to come back. You see the defense pact with Saudi Arabia. You see cooperation with Jordan. Pakistan wanted to end that isolation and be seen again.”
Another consideration is Pakistan’s dire economic situation. “US help can be greatly beneficial. We are now seeing the revival of economic cooperation between Pakistan and the US. That’s why Pakistan offered the US a $500 million minerals deal.”
Third, Pakistan wants an end to regional conflicts. “The Pakistani government and the Pakistani people would be very happy to help end the conflict in Gaza, or to help bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians in some way.”
Pakistan does not see Israel as a threat, Quraishi says
Quraishi says that a long-term Israel-Pakistan relationship is not only possible but inevitable.
“In Pakistan’s strategic community, Israel is not seen as a threat. There is no geo-strategic conflict. The only issue is the Palestinian question – a political issue, not a bilateral one.”
He notes that Pakistan endorsed Saudi Arabia’s 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which offers normalization with Israel in exchange for a two-state solution.
“Economically, technologically, strategically, there is enormous potential. Pakistan is ready for a relationship when the timing aligns,” he says.