Pakistan Urges Muslim World to Unite Against Israel

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has called on Muslim countries to unite against Israel, describing it as a threat to the wider Muslim world. He also urged Muslim states to establish a broader joint military alliance to counter Israel. Asif made the remarks in an interview with a Pakistani media outlet on Saturday, a day after Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye signed a joint defence pact in Mecca. Under the agreement, an armed attack on any one of the three countries will be treated as an attack on all three. The defence pact has renewed debate over the possibility of a broader, NATO-style military alliance among Muslim-majority countries. However, the potential membership, structure and effectiveness of such an alliance remain uncertain.

Referring to the 1917 Balfour Declaration, Asif reiterated his opposition to Israel and argued that a change in Israeli leadership would be unlikely to produce a fundamental shift in the country’s policies. His comments come amid heightened regional tensions and growing calls among Muslim countries for greater coordination on security and defence issues. The new Pakistan-Saudi Arabia-Türkiye agreement could provide a framework for deeper military cooperation, although expanding it into a wider alliance would require agreement among countries with differing strategic interests and foreign-policy priorities.