FIA arrests 5 Pakistanis who worked in Israel for up to 7 years

ISLAMABAD (Monitoring Desk): Five Pakistani nationals have been arrested for taking up employment in Israel in violation of the South Asian country’s laws, Pakistan’s top investigative agency said on Wednesday.

Pakistan does not recognize the state of Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

Due to the absence of diplomatic ties, Pakistani nationals cannot travel to Israel, let alone take up jobs there. The Pakistani passport explicitly states that it is valid in all countries of the world, except Israel.

Abdul Ghafoor, an FIA spokesperson, told Arab News the operation was initiated last month after authorities picked up remittances trail and found concrete evidence that established these individuals had been working in Israel for years.

“The suspects were working as helpers and car washers in Tel Aviv,” the FIA spokesperson said. “They stayed in Tel Aviv for four to seven years.”

All the arrested suspects belong to Mirpur Khas district of the southern Sindh province and have been booked for violating Pakistan’s Passport Act 1974 and the Emigration Ordinance 1979, according to the FIA.

The agency has been looking for three others, who had been working in Israel.

Since the Pakistani passport was not valid in Israel, the suspects gained entry into the Jewish state through an Israeli agent, according to the FIA.

“The suspects paid Rs300,000 to Rs400,000 ($1,090 to $1,453) per person to the Israeli agent,” the spokesperson said. “They would enter Israel through the Jordan airport on a Schengen visa.”

To enter Israel, the suspects would reach Jordan via Turkiye, Kenya and Sri Lanka as well, according to the FIA. They would return to Karachi from Jordan via transit in Dubai.

“The suspects had been sending remittances to Pakistan via Western Union money transfer service,” the agency said.

The development comes months after reports emerged of some Pakistani goods being sold in Israeli markets that stirred a controversy in the South Asian country. The reports came after a New York-based group of American Jews said the first shipment of “Pakistan-origin food products” had been offloaded in Israel in April.

The American Jewish Congress said the transaction involved Pakistan-Jewish businessman Fishel Benkhald, based in the country’s financial hub of Karachi, and three Israeli businessmen from Jerusalem and Haifa. Benkhald also shared on Twitter a video of dates, dried fruit, and spices he “exported” from Pakistan to the Israeli market.

However, Pakistan’s foreign office categorically denied that the South country had “exported” any such goods, reiterating there had been “no change” in Islamabad’s policy regarding Tel Aviv.