Responding to Asif, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office said the \u201ccall for Israel\u2019s annihilation is outrageous. This is not a statement that can be tolerated from any government, especially not from one that claims to be a neutral arbiter for peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif:<\/p>\n
Israel is evil and a curse for humanity, while peace talks are underway in Islamabad, genocide is being committed in Lebanon. <\/p>\n
Innocent citizens are being killed by Israel, first Gaza, then Iran and now Lebanon, bloodletting continues\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/mpKbLN3yRI<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Clash Report (@clashreport) April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar condemned the \u201cblatant antisemitic blood libels from a government claiming to \u2018mediate peace,\u2019\u201d while echoing the Prime Minister\u2019s Office in saying that \u201ccalling the Jewish state \u2018cancerous\u2019 is effectively calling for its annihilation.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael will defend itself against terrorists who vow its destruction,\u201d said Sa\u2019ar.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter also denounced the post, writing on his own account: \u201cThe Ayatollahs chanted \u2018Death to Israel\u2019 \u2014 and now a so-called \u2018mediator\u2019 is echoing the same language. You are not a mediator Mr. Asif, you are the problem. Even if it is to your dismay, Israel is here to stay. That\u2019s not for negotiation.\u201d<\/p>\n Asif later deleted the post, without offering an apology or explanation.<\/p>\n \t Pakistan succeeded in brokering a ceasefire between the US and Iran on Tuesday by crafting a last-minute bridging proposal<\/a>, two government officials familiar with the negotiations told The Times of Israel on Thursday.<\/p>\n Pakistan has no diplomatic relations with Israel. It voted against the establishment of modern Israel at the UN in 1947, does not recognize Israeli sovereignty, and says it will not do so until a Palestinian state is established along the pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital. During a visit to India in 2018, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said:<\/a> \u201cWe are not enemies of Pakistan and Pakistan should not be our enemy either.\u201d<\/p>\n Negotiations between the US and Iran are set to begin in Islamabad on Saturday, with US Vice President JD Vance leading the American delegation, alongside Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Israel will not be present at the talks.<\/p>\n The Wall Street Journal reported early Friday that the Iranian delegation had landed in Pakistan, and that it was led by Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.<\/p>\n Semi-official Iranian media reported denials from the regime that officials had gone to Islamabad, according to the Journal.<\/p>\n \t The government of Israel, which will not be represented in Pakistan, said it supported the truce agreement and called off its own military actions in the campaign it had launched together with the US on February 28.<\/p>\n The military operation had the stated goals of degrading the Iranian regime\u2019s military capabilities, distancing threats posed by Iran \u2014 including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs \u2014 and \u201ccreating the conditions\u201d for the Iranian people to topple the regime.<\/p>\n Netanyahu has sought to shoot down the notion that he was caught off-guard by the truce, while touting the campaign so far<\/a>\u00a0and stressing that Israel is ready to resume combat operations at any moment.<\/p>\n However, opposition leaders have accused him of letting Israel get cut out of the decision-making process, with Opposition Leader Yair Lapid dubbing the truce a \u201cdiplomatic disaster\u201d<\/a> and former premier Naftali Bennett charging that \u201cthe leadership sold us illusions.\u201d<\/p>\n Three separate polls released Thursday showed that a slim majority of Israelis oppose the ceasefire<\/a> and less than a third support it.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tPakistani official Khawaja Asif leaves the Parliament after attending a session that discussed recent Indian strikes, February 26, 2019, in Islamabad, Pakistan. (AP\/BK Bangash)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP25286627151728-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tUS President Donald Trump watches Pakistan\u2019s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif delivering a speech at the Gaza International Peace Summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Monday, Oct.13 2025. (Yoan Valat, Pool via AP)<\/p>\n
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