{"id":62938,"date":"2026-05-14T16:17:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/?p=62938"},"modified":"2026-05-14T16:17:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:17:21","slug":"israels-campaign-against-pakistans-neutrality-in-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/2026\/05\/14\/israels-campaign-against-pakistans-neutrality-in-iran-war\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00a0Israel\u2019s Campaign Against Pakistan\u2019s Neutrality in Iran War"},"content":{"rendered":"

Qamar Bashir<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The latest political storm surrounding Pakistan and its mediation role between the United States and Iran did not emerge in isolation. It erupted after Lindsey Graham openly questioned senior American military leadership during congressional hearings over reports that Iranian aircraft had temporarily used Pakistani facilities after the April 7 ceasefire.<\/p>\n

Addressing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and senior military officials, Graham insinuated that Pakistan could no longer be trusted as a neutral mediator if it maintained cooperative understandings with Iran. The implication behind his remarks was unmistakable: Pakistan\u2019s sovereign foreign-policy decisions should somehow require approval from Washington or Tel Aviv before Islamabad could legitimately maintain relations with Tehran.<\/p>\n

Soon afterward, Benjamin Netanyahu intensified the campaign by accusing Pakistan of running \u201cbot farms\u201d and social-media influence operations designed to weaken relations between the United States and Israel. Netanyahu claimed anti-Israel sentiment among younger Americans was being amplified by coordinated foreign manipulation rather than emerging organically within American society itself.<\/p>\n

Yet the timing of these accusations reveals something far deeper. The real crisis today is not Pakistan\u2019s diplomacy with Iran. The real crisis is the growing political and intellectual rebellion inside the United States itself against the long-standing assumption that Israel should receive unconditional military, diplomatic, and financial backing regardless of consequences.<\/p>\n

One of the most extraordinary developments came from Jonathan Pollard \u2014 the former American intelligence analyst imprisoned for spying for Israel. In a dramatic interview with i24NEWS, Pollard declared that the U.S.-Israel alliance was \u201cfinished\u201d and described President Donald Trump as \u201cdangerous.\u201d Pollard accused both American and Israeli leadership of strategic failure after October 7 and argued that Israel no longer possessed dependable allies in Washington. Coming from a figure long associated with pro-Israel advocacy, the remarks reflected the growing fractures within the alliance itself.<\/p>\n

At the same time, voices across the American political spectrum are increasingly demanding that the United States begin treating Israel like any other sovereign state rather than granting it exceptional status beyond normal scrutiny. Tucker Carlson has repeatedly argued that America must detach itself from endless Middle Eastern wars fought in the name of Israeli security.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Sachs has warned that unconditional support for Israel is damaging America\u2019s global credibility and strategic interests. Mehdi Hasan, Jeremy Scahill, Chris Hedges, and Norman Finkelstein have all criticized what they view as extraordinary protection and political privilege granted to Israel within American politics and media.<\/p>\n

Even more remarkable is that this reassessment is no longer confined to progressive circles. Figures such as Douglas Macgregor and Scott Ritter from anti-interventionist and conservative circles increasingly argue that American foreign policy has become excessively shaped by Israeli strategic calculations.<\/p>\n

On the progressive side, Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur have openly questioned whether the United States is sacrificing its own sovereignty and reputation in pursuit of policies benefiting another state.<\/p>\n

Simultaneously, lawmakers such as Peter Welch and Chris Van Hollen have demanded greater scrutiny of military aid to Israel, including discussions surrounding the Leahy Law and NSM-20 reviews over alleged human-rights violations. What was politically unimaginable in Washington a decade ago is now openly debated in Congress, universities, mainstream media, podcasts, and digital platforms.<\/p>\n

This is the real context behind Netanyahu\u2019s accusations against Pakistan. The erosion of unquestioned support for Israel inside the United States is not created by Pakistan, Iran, or foreign \u201cbot farms.\u201d It is increasingly emerging from American citizens themselves \u2014 journalists, students, veterans, academics, influencers, religious leaders, podcasters, and ordinary voters questioning decades of war, instability, civilian casualties, and endless military entanglements across the Middle East.<\/p>\n

The digital revolution has accelerated this transformation. Traditional gatekeepers no longer control political narratives. Millions of Americans now receive information through podcasts, livestreams, independent media, and social platforms where alternative perspectives circulate freely. Images from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran have profoundly shaped public opinion, especially among younger generations who increasingly reject unconditional support for war.<\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, attempts to blame Pakistan for changing American attitudes appear politically convenient but strategically hollow.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the controversy over Pakistan\u2019s mediation role raises a much larger legal and diplomatic question: the sovereignty of states under international law. The Charter of the United Nations explicitly recognizes the sovereign equality of all member states under Article 2(1). Article 2(4) further prohibits coercion or threats against the political independence of states.<\/p>\n

Beyond the Charter itself, UN General Assembly Resolution 2131 on the Inadmissibility of Intervention in the Domestic Affairs of States clearly declares that no country has the right to intervene directly or indirectly in the political, economic, or external affairs of another sovereign state. Likewise, Resolution 36\/103 reaffirmed that every nation possesses the right to freely develop political, economic, diplomatic, and strategic relations according to its own national interests without outside interference.<\/p>\n

Under these principles, Pakistan has every legal right to maintain relations simultaneously with Iran, the United States, China, Gulf countries, or any other nation. If Islamabad chose under bilateral understanding to temporarily facilitate Iranian aircraft during a ceasefire period, that falls within sovereign bilateral relations between two independent UN member states. No third country possesses automatic authority to interfere with or dictate those relationships unless binding international sanctions exist.<\/p>\n

Therefore, Pakistan should not appear apologetic, nervous, or defensive if it has allowed Iranian aircraft temporary logistical arrangements under bilateral understandings. Sovereign states act according to national interests, geography, strategic necessity, diplomacy, and regional realities. Pakistan\u2019s historic, cultural, religious, and geographic ties with Iran are well known and entirely legitimate under international law.<\/p>\n

Nor should Pakistan become intimidated by the insinuations of Israeli-aligned political figures in the U.S. Senate or Congress who now appear determined to downgrade Islamabad\u2019s status as a mediator. Much of this criticism reflects frustration that Pakistan succeeded where many others failed: helping facilitate the April 7 ceasefire that prevented a potentially catastrophic regional war.<\/p>\n

That ceasefire, now indefinitely extended, likely saved the global economy trillions of dollars in losses, prevented massive disruptions to oil supplies and maritime trade, and protected countless civilian lives across the Middle East and beyond.<\/p>\n

Instead of acknowledging Pakistan\u2019s diplomatic contribution, sections of the Israeli political establishment and its supporters continue attempting to poison perceptions of Pakistan in Washington. Their objective increasingly appears not merely to criticize Pakistan, but to create suspicion around Islamabad\u2019s neutrality and undermine the confidence that President Trump himself has repeatedly expressed toward Pakistan\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

Yet despite these pressure campaigns, Trump has publicly praised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir for facilitating diplomacy and helping reduce regional tensions. His administration clearly recognizes that Pakistan\u2019s communication channels with all sides made meaningful mediation possible.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, this controversy reflects a larger geopolitical transformation underway across the world. The debate is no longer simply about Pakistan, Iran, or Israel alone. It is about sovereignty, international law, independent foreign policy, and whether powerful lobbying networks can continue dictating global narratives indefinitely despite changing political realities inside the United States itself. And increasingly, that debate is being driven not by outsiders, but by Americans themselves.<\/p>\n

The writer Press Secretary to the President (Rtd),Former Press Minister, Embassy of Pakistan to France,Former Press Attach\u00e9 to Malaysia and Former MD, SRBC | Macomb, Michigan<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Qamar Bashir The latest political storm surrounding Pakistan and its mediation role between the United States and Iran did not emerge in isolation. It erupted after Lindsey Graham openly questioned senior American military leadership during congressional hearings over reports that Iranian aircraft had temporarily used Pakistani facilities after the April 7 ceasefire. Addressing Defense Secretary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[834,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-62938","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-editorial-articles","8":"tag-israels-campaign-against-pakistans-neutrality-in-iran-war","9":"tag-qamar-bashir"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62938"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62939,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62938\/revisions\/62939"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}