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Rethinking Pakistan's Rejection of Israel
(Ha'aretz) Sumeera Asghar Roy and Hassan F. Virk - What has Pakistan achieved from its policy of a perpetual boycott of Israel? Doesn't logic demand a reassessment, if there's nothing to show after all these decades? Currently, the International Monetary Fund ranks Pakistan third among countries facing an acute water shortage. Israel, located in the relatively arid Middle East, has developed technology in agriculture based on the rigorous utilization of every drop of available water. It recycles 86% of its water, by far the highest rate in the world. Israel exports its water expertise to more than 150 countries, including some in the Arab world. It is high time for Pakistan and Israel to extend an olive branch to each other. If Egypt and Jordan, neighboring Muslim-majority states who've been directly affected by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, can make politico-economic deals with Israel for the good of their peoples, why can't Pakistan, which is far removed from the conflict? Sumeera Asghar Roy is a PhD candidate at the China Agricultural University in Beijing. Hassan F. Virk is a research associate at the Center for Security, Strategy, and Policy Research at the University of Lahore.