Israel at Pakistan’s doorstep: The Strategic Implications of Oman-Israel Relations

08.11.2018

Introduction

“While every news-outlet in Pakistan fell into the trap of Avi Scharf’s propaganda against Pakistan, Israeli PM Natenyahu paid a secret visit to Oman which has serious repercussions not only for Pakistan but also for the whole South Asia”.

On a secret trip to Oman Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was accompanied by his wife, Mossad intelligence Chief Yossi Cohen, National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat and with other defense officials. The Israeli delegation reportedly flew to Oman on Thursday, 25^th October, 2018 when Pakistan’s media attention was successfully diverted about the Israeli plane landing in Islamabad. It was the first visit by an Israeli leader to Oman in over two decades; the last Israeli leader to visit Oman was Shimon Peres in 1996. Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Friday, 26^th October that the visit came at the invitation of Sultan Qaboos and followed "lengthy contacts between the two countries". His office added that it formed part of a policy of "deepening relations with the states of the region".

Just three days before Natenyahu’s visit President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas also paid a visit to Oman on 21^st October. Surprisingly on 28^th October Omani officials went again to Palestine to meet President Mahmoud Abbas which indicates the developments relating to the Middle-east peace process is growing up rapidly in pace where Israel is now for the first time in history leading the role through diplomatic intelligence.

This article is an attempt to analyze three main questions; Why Israel exposed its relations with Oman in this time? And what is Israel’s master plan behind gaining strong foothold in this region? And lastly how Israel’s presence can affect the Geo-politics of South Asia?

Israel’s Threat Perception and Geo-political Strategy

Connecting the Dots

“One of the secrets about ‘Zionist-politics’ is that it intends to compartmentalize its mission into a long span of time by the way of deceptive Geo-political developments or layers. But the end game will always remain the same. Thus, it is essential to connect the dots to see the bigger picture in order to understand Israeli Geo-politics because analyzing each compartment of Israeli strategy in isolation will eventually lead to more confusion.”

Israel’s geo-political location is a security nightmare for Israeli defence planners because of the surrounding Arab countries. US calibrate its Middle East policy because of the Israeli Lobby sitting in the Unites States, who not only controls US foreign policy in the Middle-east but also use US army as its military arm. According to the author every US war in the Middle-east ended up in dividing the Muslim countries and thus enhancing the security of Israel. Thus, US grand strategy of regime change in the Middle-east is intended to serve Israel in two ways;

1- Firstly, Strategically replace the leaders of the Muslim countries with those who will recognize Israel as a legit state and will have friendly ties in the future.

2- Secondly, control oil and the gas of the Middle-east through Multi-national corporations which are already owned by most of the Zionist bankers.

Why Israel exposed her relations with Oman?

Firstly, Oman can serve as a channel to many countries including Pakistan, Iran, Qatar and even Syria. A lot of country trusted Oman but the question is will they see Oman as an honest broker? Through Oman Israel can build secret ties with any player in the region. For example; India used Oman’s good offices to develop ties with Iran. If Israel gets a strong foothold in Oman through her embassy it can experiment with Pakistan and Iran.

Finally, for Natenyahu exposing the ties with Oman is yet another layer in Israeli Middle-eastern strategy which includes covert alliances and public ones. This article is an attempt to decode all the layers in Israeli Middle-eastern strategy. As an early example; first of the decoded layer explains Israel will only seek to develop covert or overt ties with Sunni nations of movements in an effort to prevent Iran’s spread through the region as well as undermines Tehran’s regional power. And Oman’s geographical position and the monarchy provide all the tools they need to materialize this strategy.

The Secret: MOSSAD’s Strategy is encoded in its Slogan “By way of deception thou shalt do war"

There are so many deceptions revolving around Israel approaching Oman. Most of the analysts will see this development in economic or political terms concerning the recognition of Israel or the possible Palestinian state but in reality it is more than that. The truth about deception is that when it targets a specific object it creates a camouflage (geo-political confusion) and will never directly expose its hidden objectives because of the secrecy. Israel visit to Oman is yet another layer to divide the Muslims, as it already raised serious questions regarding the future of Muslim unity among the scholars

It is because of this reason through multiple layers on it; they want most of world thinkers to remain confused about Israel’s geopolitics. Thus, the role of most of the thinkers in this game becomes more confusing for them and for others too, because they do not know the truth and you merely through empirical political theories want to know the clarity about reality. Which in reality, they will never be able to understand. The author wants to emphasize here that it is because of this reason they categories our intellect as ‘mob psychology’. As Israeli Professor Israel Shahak, in his book; Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Two Thousand Years says on page 89-90; “It is a grave sin to practice any kind of deception whatsoever against a Jew. Against a Gentile (non-Jew) it is only forbidden to practice direct deception. Indirect deception is allowed, unless it is likely to cause hostility towards Jews or insult to the Jewish religion”.

One of the secrets about deception in ‘Zion politics’ is that it also intends to compartmentalize its mission into a long span of time, but the end game will always remain the same. Therefore, One must connect the dots and look the bigger picture concerning pro-Israel US and Israeli strategy in the Middle-east.

Pakistan’s Threat Perception: Pakistan should learn to play on both sides

“In the age of Hybrid warfare it is essential for Pakistan that they are being deliberately encircled by her enemies. Thus, its economic developments with other countries must have a military objective in the end”.

Pakistan in a midst of Hybrid War

If we pay close attention to the post-911 South Asia, a whole book of several volumes can written on Pakistan’s threat perception. But if we only consider the developments of past week, it is plain and clear that Pakistan is the midst of Hybrid war directed against her.

1- International Propaganda campaigns are being conducted; recently it was Israeli newspaper Haaretz spreading falsehood against Pakistan to create a divide in between civil and military leadership.

2- Pakistani banks and data centers are being targeted through Cyber warfare.

3- India is busy in violating ceasefire agreement of 2003 and killing innocent Pakistanis.

4- United States is pressurizing the leadership of Pakistan by putting the blame about the loss in Afghanistan war.

5- In the midst of civil unrest, after Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of Aasia Bibi United States Commission on International Religious Freedom calls on the government of Pakistan to release another 40 individuals imprisoned in Blasphemy charges and repeal its blasphemy laws. It is not only an act of meddling into the internal affairs of Pakistan but also adding fuel to the fire.

Pakistan must realize the fact that it is being slowly and steadily being encircled by her enemies. The latest development of Oman-Israel ties is the prime example of the forces which are busy in enhancing the security of the state of Israel at the cost dividing the Muslim countries. The only question arises here; why we are not taking right decisions at the right time? It is mainly because of the above mentioned points in the context of deception on the part of Pro-Israel US and Israeli strategy. The whole geo-political scenario in South Asia is clearly suggesting that Pakistan is already in a state of war.

US Army Lt. Col. (ret.) Ralph Peters in the June, 2006 “Blood Borders”, Peters suggested that a reimagining of Middle Eastern and Asian borders along ethnic, sectarian and tribal lines might ease regional tensions (in reality enhancing the security of Israel by dividing the Muslim countries). The article and the accompanying map were and continue to be widely taken as Washington’s blueprint for imperial meddling. The boundaries projected in the maps accompanying this article redress the wrongs suffered by the most significant ‘cheated’ population groups, such as the Kurds, Baluch and Arab Shia. The only way to counter the US grand strategy to divide the Muslim countries is to unite the Muslim countries; Pakistan must put herself boldly at the center of this chessboard game and marginalize every pro-Israel US or its proxy move to divide the Muslim world.

Natenyahu’s Binoculars and the View from Muscat:

“Israel is the only country in the world after Pakistan made independent in the name of religion. No intelligent brain in the world can understand Israel’s geo-politics without understanding the significance and the influence of Jewish literature in formation of her foreign policy. Israel is seeking to rule the world from Jerusalem and a nuclear Pakistan is a significant threat and an obstacle to her end game.”

Oman is Pakistan’s nearest neighbor, only a stretch of 250 miles of sea separates Oman and Pakistan. The view from Muscat sees Pakistan and Iran on the north. Pakistan’s relations with Oman will have a new shift if Oman recognizes Israel officially in the near future. And Pakistan must pay close attention to the new Israel’s presence with US military in Oman.

In the era of unconventional threats from the enemies a unified economic and military strategy must makes sure the security and the development of CPEC and Pakistan’s naval preparedness to tackle un-conventional maritime threat. It is highly important to analyze the challenges in the sphere of un-conventional maritime threats emanating from the militarization and nuclearization of the Indian Ocean from US-India axis.

India with Unites States considers CPEC as a threat to their hegemony in the region. India was already late in the understanding of the significance of Duqm port— the US presence is already there from 2013-14 followed by UK. According to the author India could have been influenced by the US Intel experts to join their hands on Duqm port to counter rising Pak-China axis.

India has the closest diplo-political and military ties with Oman not only for economic purposes but also for a ‘symbolic counter’ against Pakistan from the South. Following exactly the same intelligent strategy India through Oman’s good offices developed cordial relations with Iran, following Pakistan’s tilt towards Saudi Arabia India strategically checkmated Pakistan by gaining access to Chabahar port. India’s economic partnership with Iran is part of a grand-strategy to sandwich Pakistan in between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

As China takes over Gwadar in Pakistan, India attempts a security checkmate against it by pursuing Duqm port in Oman, allowing India the ability to checkmate China at the mouth of the Gulf of Oman. The port of Duqm is unique — it is artificial crafted for economic and strategic use. As far as Oman’s Salalah is related it is already being used by Indian Air Force and Navy for repair and refueling. Thus, Power projection by the rival’s axis is symbolically directed against Pakistan and China.

If Israel gets a strong foothold in Oman through her embassy in Muscat (which is located in northern Oman facing Pakistan and Iran) then for Pakistan it will naturally provide an opportunity to incorporate Iran as a partner in the military drills to balance the power. Lastly, to completely minimize the effect of rival moves against Pakistan through Oman ‘just rope up Oman in CPEC and connectivity corridors and raise the costs of Oman’s compromises’.

Israel’s presence in Oman draws Pakistan and Iran close to each other: After PM Natenyahu returned from Oman, Iran made a public statement that US and ‘Israel lobby in the United States’ pressuring Muslim countries to normalize ties and the Jewish state was seeking “to create divisions between Muslim countries”.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bassam Ghasemi said: “This regime seeks to create divisions between Muslim countries and obscure 70 years of usurpation, rape and killing of the oppressed Palestinians. History and experience show that retreating and acquiescing to the illegitimate demands of the United States and the usurper Zionist regime will make them more bold and more dominant in the region, while ignoring the Palestinian people’s legitimate rights,”

According to the author, Pakistan will soon face an awkward situation where most of her Arab allies will recognize Israel as a legit state in the Middle-east. What will Pakistan do in that situation? There is one thing which is plain and clear to the author that If Pakistan recognized Israel as a state. Iran will be isolated in South Asia and this is exactly what the United States and Israel want. It will also provide a chance to the enemies to exploit either overtly or covertly Iran-Pakistan relations on the basis of ethno-sectarian lines. And will eventually result in a total chaos for both of countries. Thus, the only way to neutralize this is to develop cordial diplo-military relations with Iran.

But before this it is important to realize the fact that peace among the Muslim countries also ensures peace of several regions in the context of contemporary balance of power system in the world order. A destabilized Middle-east means a destabilized world. It is time for Pakistan to realize the importance of this time and must act as mediator in between Muslim countries who are already or on the verge of war against each other.

Concluding Thoughts

Lastly, It is important for Pakistan’s National Security Policy-makers to realize the fact that; “IN THE AGE OF HYBRID WARFARE IT IS ESSENTIAL FOR PAKISTAN THAT THEY ARE BEING DELIBERATELY ENCIRCLED BY HER ENEMIES. THUS, ITS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES MUST HAVE A MILITARY OBJECTIVE IN THE END”.

This strategy will create harmony in between Pakistan’s Economic and Military objectives. Only through this strategy Pakistan will have a robust and a strong foreign Policy. It is the right time for Pakistan to take bold initiatives in her foreign policy. Following points are the summarized strategies Pakistan must use urgently to not only balance the power against her rivals but also eradicate the menace of state-sponsored terrorism which is hindering the development of Pakistan and peace in South Asia.

1- Pakistan quest for the development of CPEC and Gwadar port requires her diplomats and military leadership to collaborate with Omani counterparts and make sure that Oman’s territory or waters will not be used by ‘US and I to I axis’ (Israel-India axis) against Pakistan.

2- In the context of Afghanistan Crisis it is clear that if there is no peace in Afghanistan there will be no peace in South Asia. Pakistan must seek Russian services of balancing powers in the region to attain regional peace. Russia is the best alternative to pro-Israel United States to solve Afghan crisis. Russia is to hold Afghan Peace Talks inviting Afghan leaders for talks with Taliban on 9^th November, 2018. Pakistan must capitalize this situation in full scale.

3- Pakistan should not discriminate in between Muslim countries through its foreign policy or must not militarily become part of any conflict in between the Muslim countries; otherwise it will provide a chance to its enemies to capitalize on it. For example; on the decision to remain neutral on Yemen War was intelligently understood by the policy makers of Pakistan that it will trap Pakistan and will allow its enemies to exploit Pakistan-Iran relations. This strategy must continue in the future as well.

4- Pakistan needs another ‘I’ to counter ‘I to I axis’ (Israel-India axis) and that ‘I’ for Pakistan is Iran. Pakistan’s economic and military ties with Iran marginalize the strategy of their enemies to create a rift and divide in between them through sectarian or ethnic lines. Also the solution to Baluchistan crisis which effects the development of CPEC lies in the cordial relations with Iran.

5- Lastly, It is time to take bold initiatives for the sake of the regional peace and it is time that Pakistan must send a symbolic message to the world by incorporating Iran after Saudi Arabia in CPEC. This economic integration will raise the cost of War in between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Thus, it will put Pakistan in a strategic advantage over the enemies who are seeking a perpetual divide in between Muslim countries.

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DISCLAIMER: The author writes for this publication in a private capacity which is unrepresentative of anyone or any organization except for his own personal views. Nothing written by the author should ever be conflated with the editorial views or official positions of any other media outlet or institution.

Reference Links:

Netanyahu Visits Oman, Which Has No Diplomatic Ties with Israel

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/netanyahu-secretly-visits-oman-which-has-no-diplomatic-ties-with-israel-1.6594761

Israel's Netanyahu meets Sultan Qaboos in surprise Oman trip

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/israel-netanyahu-meets-sultan-qaboos-surprise-trip-oman-181026144447963.html

Oman says time to accept Israel in region, offers help for peace

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bahrain-summit-oman/oman-says-time-to-accept-israel-in-region-offers-help-for-peace-idUSKCN1N10BH

Netanyahu makes surprise trip to Oman and meets with Sultan Qaboos

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/netanyahu-visits-oman-and-meets-sultan-qaboos-745171995

Mahmoud Abbas arrives in Oman - Times Of Oman

https://timesofoman.com/article/295162

Omani Official Visits Palestinian President Days After Netanyahu Meets Sultan