Caught Between Riyadh and Washington: Pakistan’s Israel Recognition Dilemma
In May 2026, Donald Trump placed a conference call to the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan and asked them, in effect, to buy what the Abraham Accords were selling. The Emirati, Bahraini, Moroccan, and Sudanese signatories had already bought in: they traded recognition of Israel for concrete American dividends — F-35 fighters, sovereignty over Western Sahara, removal from terrorism blacklists. Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif refused before the call ended. This was not a miscalculation or a posture. It was the only response structurally available to Islamabad.