Herzog issued these statements during an address at the World Economic Forum (WED) in Davos, Switzerland, while responding to a question about the Abraham Accords – a joint statement brokered by the US that was signed in 2020, aimed at the normalisation of relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The president said that the Abraham Accords are resulting in increased cooperation on all levels of life and that he received two delegations in Israel recently, both of which showed 'great change'.
https://twitter.com/sererojonathan/status/1529528050416766976
One of the delegations according to Herzog consisted of South Asians, including two Pakistani-Americans, who he said resided permanently in the US, but were 'proud Pakistanis'. He said it was an 'amazing experience' because there has never been a delegation of 'Pakistani leaders in such scope' before in Israel.
Although he did not specify who the members of the delegation were, an Israeli NGO Sharaka had shared videos of a trip it had organized for a Pakistan-American delegation to "promote peace in the Middle East".
https://twitter.com/sharakango/status/1527273856985190400
Pakistan does not recognize Israel and therefore has no diplomatic relations with it. Pakistan is also an ally to the Palestinian cause and refuses to recognize Israel until a 'just settlement' is decided upon for Palestine.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former human rights minister Shireen Mazari criticized the meeting of Pakistani expats with the Israeli president, terming it 'shameful subservience' to the US, linking it to PTI Chairperson's claims of a US-led regime change conspiracy which he claims led to his ouster.
https://twitter.com/ShireenMazari1/status/1530815052416225281
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has categorically rejected the notion of any official delegation from Pakistan visiting Israel.
It said the visit in question was arranged by a foreign NGO and Pakistan’s position on the Palestinian issue was "clear and unambiguous". "There is no change whatsoever in our policy on which there is complete national consensus," the FO statement added.
Minister of Planning Ahsan Iqbal also said that no official or semi-official Pakistani delegation had conducted meetings.
https://twitter.com/betterpakistan/status/1530832549626675200