THERE is a particular kind of audacity that masquerades as ‘diplomacy’, and United States President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Muslim-majority nations, including Pakistan, sign the Abraham Accords was a textbook example of it.

Although the White House packaged the ultimatum in the language of ‘historic opportunity’, those who have watched this administration’s foreign policy with open eyes recognised it for what it was; Israeli agenda-setting delivered through American mouth.

The Abraham Accords were Benjamim Netanyahu’s signature achievement — a reordering of the Middle East that bypassed Palestinian rights entirely and rewarded Israel with normalisation without much of a cost. To demand that nations recognise Israel while Gaza is under bombardment and Jerusalem’s legal status remains unresolved was not a peace proposal, but a demand for capitulation dressed up as diplomacy.

Pakistan Foreign Office was measured but unmistakably clear in stating that recognition requires the creation of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its capital. That is not a fringe position; it is the consensus of international law, United Nations resolutions and the moral intuition of billions. Pakistan should not sign the Abraham Accords, and, indeed, should not be apologetic about it.

Awais N. Bahar
Turbat

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2026