Pakistan's Stance on the Palestine Question
Pakistan's position on the Palestine question has been the most consistent thread in the country's foreign policy since independence in 1947. Through all the upheavals of the past seven decades — military governments and civilian governments, Cold War alignments and post-Cold War realignments, Saudi tilts and Iranian rapprochements — Pakistan's diplomatic stance has not changed in its essentials.
The four pillars of Pakistan's position
- Non-recognition of Israel in the absence of a final-status settlement that establishes a viable, sovereign Palestinian state.
- Support for a two-state solution on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state.
- Backing of UN resolutions on Palestine, particularly UNSC 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 478 (1980), and the various General Assembly resolutions affirming Palestinian self-determination.
- Diplomatic, political and humanitarian support for the Palestinian people, including hosting Palestinian leaders, providing scholarships, and routine condemnation of Israeli settlement and military activity.
These four pillars have remained intact regardless of whether Pakistan was led by Liaquat Ali Khan, Ayub Khan, Z. A. Bhutto, Zia-ul-Haq, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, Pervez Musharraf, Imran Khan or Shehbaz Sharif.
Historical landmarks
1947: The UN Partition vote
Pakistan, three months old at the time of UNGA Resolution 181 on 29 November 1947, voted against the Partition Plan. Pakistan's representative, Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, delivered one of the most cited speeches at the General Assembly opposing partition. He argued that the proposed plan was both legally flawed (the UN had no authority to dispose of mandated territory against the wishes of its majority population) and morally untenable (it transferred land from a population of long residence to a settler community).
We have endeavoured throughout these proceedings to keep in view the interests of all concerned, and to seek a just solution. We have not been able to persuade ourselves that partition is such a solution. It violates the principles of the Charter; it disregards the will of the majority of those whom it most affects; and it will sow seeds of bitterness which will not soon be healed.
1948 onwards: Non-recognition
Following the establishment of Israel on 14 May 1948, Pakistan adopted a policy of non-recognition that has been maintained without interruption to the present day. Pakistani passports continue to carry the notation "Valid for all countries except Israel."
1969: The OIC and Al-Aqsa
After the arson attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in August 1969 by an Australian tourist, an emergency Islamic summit was convened in Rabat, Morocco, in September 1969. Pakistan was a founding member of the resulting Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC, later renamed Organisation of Islamic Cooperation), which made the Palestine question a central agenda item. Pakistan has hosted multiple OIC sessions on Palestine, including the 2nd Islamic Summit at Lahore in 1974.
1974: The Lahore Summit
The 2nd OIC Summit in Lahore in February 1974, hosted by Prime Minister Z. A. Bhutto, formally recognised the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, a designation later endorsed by the UN General Assembly in November 1974. Yasser Arafat addressed the summit.
1988: Recognition of the State of Palestine
When the PLO's Palestinian National Council, meeting in Algiers in November 1988, declared the independence of the State of Palestine, Pakistan was among the first countries to recognise the new state. A Palestinian embassy has functioned in Islamabad since.
2017–18: Trump's Jerusalem move
When the Trump administration announced on 6 December 2017 that the United States would recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move its embassy from Tel Aviv, Pakistan was among the strongest voices of condemnation. Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif called the move "deeply regrettable", and Pakistan co-sponsored UN General Assembly Resolution ES-10/19 of 21 December 2017, which rejected the US move by 128 votes to 9.
2020: The Abraham Accords
The Abraham Accords of August–September 2020, normalising relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain and (subsequently) Morocco and Sudan, created intense diplomatic pressure on other Muslim-majority states. Pakistan publicly declined to follow suit. Prime Minister Imran Khan stated unambiguously that "Pakistan can never recognise Israel until a just settlement, acceptable to the Palestinians, is reached." The position has been reaffirmed by every subsequent Pakistani government.
2023–24: The Gaza war
After the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023 and the subsequent Israeli military operation in Gaza, Pakistan took multiple diplomatic positions:
- Condemnation of Israeli military operations and calls for a permanent ceasefire
- Support for the South African case at the International Court of Justice alleging Israeli violations of the Genocide Convention (ICJ application filed December 2023)
- Co-sponsorship of UN General Assembly resolutions calling for humanitarian ceasefire and Palestinian statehood admission to the UN
- Humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza through Egypt and Jordan
- Participation in the OIC-Arab League Joint Extraordinary Summit in Riyadh, November 2023
The constraint side
Pakistan's Palestine policy has, throughout, accommodated certain practical constraints:
- Relations with the United States — the country's most consequential Western partner is also Israel's closest ally. Pakistan has consistently voiced its Palestine position while maintaining engagement with Washington.
- Gulf alignments — when key Gulf partners (UAE, Bahrain, later potentially Saudi Arabia) move toward normalisation with Israel, Pakistan's position becomes a regional outlier within its own alliance network.
- Domestic politics — the Palestine issue is one of the few foreign-policy questions on which there is near-total cross-party consensus in Pakistan. Any deviation would invite significant domestic backlash.
These constraints have produced not a change in position but a careful calibration of the tone and timing of Pakistan's diplomacy.
Pakistani contributions
Beyond diplomatic statements, Pakistan has supported Palestine through:
- Educational scholarships for Palestinian students at Pakistani universities (over 200 annual scholarships through the HEC)
- Humanitarian aid delivered through Egypt and Jordan during major Gaza escalations (2008–9, 2012, 2014, 2021, 2023–24)
- Diplomatic and media support at UN forums, the OIC, the NAM, and other multilateral fora
- Permanent diplomatic representation at the embassy level in Ramallah and at the OIC Al-Quds Committee
The participating states reaffirm their solidarity with the Palestinian people and demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the entry of humanitarian aid, the cessation of forced displacement, and the resumption of a credible political process leading to a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
A common CSS examiner question is: "Can Pakistan maintain its non-recognition of Israel if Saudi Arabia normalises relations?" The strongest answers acknowledge both the historical consistency of Pakistan's position and the realistic possibility that the country's diplomacy may need to evolve — without conceding that the underlying commitment to Palestinian statehood will be abandoned.