‘Comeback’ kid and the Israeli gambit

By Kamran Rehmat/Islamabad

Daredevilry: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf addressing the American Jewish Congress in Washington in this file photo

Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf is a hard nut to crack. The retired general would have us believe he is game for a second innings, monumental odds notwithstanding. Despite grim warnings that he would be arrested upon arrival this month from a self-imposed exile, which could potentially translate into a prison term on account of a slew of legal charges, he is intent on driving Pakistan’s destiny.He will likely face court over illegal actions including (1) toppling an elected prime minister and sacking his government (2) abrogating the constitution at least twice  - an offence categorised under treason and punishable by death (3) alleged direction in the murder of renegade nationalist Akbar Bugti (4) culpability - either by design or default - in not providing adequate security, leading to the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto as well as the subsequent hosing down of the crime scene under his watch and (5) sacking the independent judiciary (twice at that).Such an eye-popping list of alleged offences would perhaps, deter another man from betting on changing the odds. But not Musharraf. Either the ex-general is delusional or he sets too much store by the reality that no Pakistani army chief, serving or past, has ever remotely faced the long arm of the law - and Heavens know there have been a few deserving of good old-fashioned chastening treatment.Last week, in an interview with noted Indian journalist and TV anchor Karan Thapar, he showed he had lost none of his trademark audacity in the face of adversity.Thapar asked him if there was a possibility of a military coup against the elected government of his successor, Asif Zardari - currently, embroiled in a tense match with the army and the judiciary - and if so, who he would side with. Musharraf said there was little chance the army would step in but if it did, “being an army man”, he would “always side with the military.” It would seem the former general has been away from home too long - he left in the last quarter of 2008 after resigning with the looming threat of impeachment. Pakistan has undergone a sea change from the time he left and clearly, there is no appetite for another bout of khaki rule, which is why the current army chief despite the odd provocation has publicly eschewed any such design. For Musharraf, aspiring to be a leader in civvies now, it is a spectacularly autistic statement to make - enough perhaps, to turn off an electorate verily tired of adventurists, especially someone who had been around nine years and pushed them into a draining war-on-terror.Regardless, the beauty of democracy is that it allows all sorts to make up the system - even Musharraf’s like. So maybe he can stake a claim at redemption. But this piece is not necessarily about his prospects as much as it is about an interesting debate he has generated with regards to the possibility of establishing ties with Israel. However, given the self-righteous streak that often dominates the Pakistani firmament, the idea would likely be given a short shrift. Small wonder Musharraf is already struggling to filter the comments he made to Israeli daily Haaretz for the benefit of edgy recipients back home. The Haaretz interview makes absorbing reading but paucity of space would prevent details. An excerpt is in order though.“There is nothing to lose by trying to get on Israel’s good side,” Musharraf told the paper. “Pakistan also needs to keep readjusting its diplomatic stand toward Israel based on the mere fact that it exists and is not going away.”Perhaps, what prevented Islamabad from hobnobbing with the Jewish state were the fruits of its longstanding Arab/Muslim ‘brotherhood’. It served Islamabad well before the new world order changed the dynamics.The futility of disengagement is confirmed - if proof was ever needed - by the fact that Palestinians have long been engaged in dialogue with Israel. It is another matter if the peace process continues to meet turbulence every now and then because of the very nature of disputes involved. But this has certainly not deterred even those Arab states whose territory Israel occupied - Palestinians, Egyptians and Jordanians - from continuing to engage with the Jewish state. Musharraf first invited debate on the issue of establishing relations with Israel in 2003. In what should rank as a million-dollar quote, he took a jibe at his forever suspecting compatriots: “We should not try to be more Palestinians than the Palestinians themselves”. If the Palestinians have no problem in dealing directly with the Israelis, as indeed other Arab states, which have either diplomatic or low-grade commerce ties with Israel - he argued - why should Pakistan, especially when it has no dispute of its own with the Jewish dispute? Pakistan’s only concern - and which, in any case, is in concert with the majority of Arab states - should be to support the cause of the Palestinians and precondition its recognition of Israel to an independent Palestinian state. But at the end of the day, Musharraf feels Pakistan should, like any other sovereign state, secure its own interests. If the conditions so demand, Islamabad should not shy away from taking decisions that help realise its goals. He argues that the establishment of diplomatic ties with Israel - admittedly, an illusion at this point in time - would accrue two major benefits for Pakistan: (a) convert - or at least dilute - the strong India-Israel relationship, which inevitably disturbs the regional balance of power into a non-threatening one since Tel Aviv will unlikely do anything majorly adventurous to annoy Islamabad and lose the newfound bonhomie with the world’s most powerful Muslim state. (b) blunt the Jewish lobby in the US against habitually taking Pakistan to the kitchen sink - something that has hurt Islamabad in the past. Musharraf contends the failure to engage its movers and shakers across America has meant that Islamabad has always carried an unnecessary chip on its shoulder. He suggests if Pakistan has Jewish decision-makers in the US on its side, it will open doors to great opportunities.

* The writer is a freelance journalist based in Islamabad and can be reached at kaamyabi@gmail.com