Fact-check: Imran Khan set the stage for ‘rare trade’ between Pakistan and Israel

Islamabad: Orya Maqbool Jan, Imran Riaz Khan and some other propagandists are misleading people about Pakistan’s relations with Israel after American Jewish Congress issued a statement hailing the trade between the two states.

The statement came after Fishel Benkhald, a Pakistani Jew said he exported some items to the Jewish state.

Orya Maqbool, Imran Riaz and some other influencers started creating the impression that the government of Pakistan was involved in the trade hailed by the American Jewish Congress.

Orya used a Voice of America (VOA) report on Benkhald’s export to instigate people by claiming that “The first Pakistani ship arrives at Israeli port.”

All the claims made by Orya Maqbool Jan, Imran Riaz Khan and others regarding the “trade ties” between Israel and Pakistan are false.

The shipment from Pakistan was sent to Israel by a Jewish citizen of Pakistan through the consulate of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). No Pakistani official was involved in the activity nor did Benkhald require their help to do this because he sent the items through UAE.

Fishel Benkhald is the son of a Muslim father and a Jewish mother. He had been contacting Pakistani officials since 2016 to visit Israel.

It was Imran Khan’s government which allowed Benkhald to travel to Israel in 2019.

To allow him to visit the Jewish state, the Pakistani passport was declared valid for Israel by Khan’s government.

Benkhald was the first Pakistani who was officially allowed by the Pakistani government to travel to Israel. Instead of taking credit for a good step such as allowing a Pakistani Jewish citizen to visit Israel, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers condemned the ‘rare trade’ just because the propagandists like Imran Riaz, Orya Maqbool and others wanted them to believe it was a conspiracy against the Muslim world, something Imran Khan would not have allowed.The likes of Imran Riaz Khan are accused of pitting Imran Khan and his PTI against the state institutions and pushing it to what political commentators say a blind alley for their YouTube earnings.

Had Imran Khan’s government not allowed Fishel Benkhald to travel to Israel, he would not have been able to export Pakistani commodities to Israel in personal capacity.