JERUSALEM, (SANA): Former president gen (retd) Parvez Musharraf has said that relationwith Israel could help Pakistan, adding that Israel is a reality and we have to accept it. He said that Pakistan is an ideological state like Israel.
In an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz, former military ruler Musharraf said that acceptance of Israel could also help to bring Pakistan and India closer. He stressed that Pakistan should hold diplomatic relations with Israel same as various other Muslim countries.
He said that Pakistanis are not anti-Jews but anti-Israel due to Palestine crises. Former ruler said that Pakistan would continue to support Palestinian’s demand for independent state.
Musharraf said that he took initiative of having meeting between Pakistani former minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and the then Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom in Istanbul.
Musharraf said that “I felt I needed to test the waters in Pakistan when it came to Israel. Yes. We have been anti-Israel in Pakistan because of Palestine, because the Pakistani people are on the side of the Palestinians and are concerned for their plight. Right from the beginning, from when we got our independence in ‘47 and Israel came into reality a year later; we have been pro-Palestine said Musharraf.
