Israel’s infatuation with Bangladeshi recognition

The news came as a sudden shock to many Bangladeshis at a time when Israel is killing Palestinians again, in a heavily unbalanced war.

Bangladesh had removed the 'except for Israel' part from its passport. Social media flooded with reactions—mostly negative — to the idea that Bangladesh might make some sort of move to better ties with Israel.

Well, at least, at first, it appeared that way. Government officials, however, soon responded in a strong voice, refuting any changes in the bilateral relationship.

The passport drama

Six months ago, the Bangladesh government ditched the 'except for Israel' clause from its new e-passport.  Earlier, the line – 'This passport is valid for all countries of the world, except for Israel'—was embossed at the bottom of the first page of any valid Bangladeshi passport. 

This information came to the forefront when an Israeli official's tweet went viral in which he congratulated Bangladesh for doing so.

Given such precedent, it is hard to see how Israel will break through the 'iron dome' of Bangladeshi public opinion.

Gilad Cohen, Deputy Director General for Asia and the Pacific at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a tweet that Bangladesh removed its travel ban on Israel. He attached a news report by an obscure English Weekly Blitz.

"Great news! Bangladesh has removed a travel ban to Israel. This is a welcome step and I call on the Bangladeshi government to move forward and establish diplomatic ties with Israel so both our peoples could benefit and prosper," he tweeted.

Bangladesh officials however strongly denied the move.

Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, Dr AK Abdul Momen on May 23 said there has been no change in Bangladesh's position towards Israel as it still does not recognise Israel.

"The changes have been made to maintain global standards," the FM added. "We have not yet recognised Israel… we are very vocally in favour of Palestine."

The fifth nation?

From September to December 2020, in the final days of the Trump presidency, Israel had hurriedly normalised ties with four Muslim-majority nations: UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. There was also talk that Israel is working to formalise relations with another Muslim-majority nation.

There were some speculations although no final name came up. However, names of countries like Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Bangladesh surfaced all too frequently. All the countries however vehemently denied the news. 

An Al Jazeera documentary earlier this year that alleged the Bangladeshi government had bought mobile phone surveillance equipment from Israel poured more fuel into rumours that Bangladesh and Israel had established some level of backchannel relations. 

The Bangladesh government however continued to deny it had taken any steps to normalise relations or that they had bought equipment from Israel. 

Sabyasachi Karmaker, journalist. Sketch/TBS

Media activism in favour of relations with Israel 

Over the past few months, a number of op-eds began surfacing in international media, arguing in favour of Bangladesh normalising relations with Israel and all the 'myriad benefits' it would bring. 

In an opinion piece titled 'Is Bangladesh moving to normalize relations with Israel?' published in Nikkei Asia on March 1 this year, Arafat Kabir, a Bangladeshi political science graduate and a research intern at Washington, D.C.-based Quincy Institute concluded that "Increased cooperation offers clear benefits for both countries."

Last year, even before the speculations started, Umran Chodhury, a Dhaka based lawyer focusing on international law wrote in Israeli newspaper 'Haaretz' in favour of recognising Israel.

"Israel offered to recognise newly-founded Bangladesh in 1972. Despite similar independence struggles, the logic of a strategic relationship, and the lack of direct hostilities, they still have no economic, defense or diplomatic ties. It's time for change," Umran Chowdhury wrote.

Not everyone, however, was enthusiastic about such moves and pushed back on it.

Bangladeshi journalist Nazmul Ahasan, also writing in Haaretz, in an article titled 'For Bangladesh, Recognising Israel Is an Immoral Choice', wrote: "There may be pragmatic reasons for Bangladesh to consider ties with Israel. But having fought our own liberation war against a cruel occupier, we cling to one overriding moral imperative: Palestinian freedom".

A difficult sell

Bangladesh and Israel do not maintain diplomatic relations. Bangladesh is one of several countries that officially bans its citizens from traveling to Israel and does not accept Israeli passports.

And yet, Israel has had its eye on Bangladesh ever since its creation.

In 1971, Israel reportedly helped India with weapons that eventually made its way to Mukti Bahini, although this information came to light many years later. In fact, India, which until then had been an ardent supporter of Palestinian rights, took its first steps towards relations with Israel during Bangladesh's Liberation War. 

Israel again fruitlessly "sought a relationship with Bangladesh" after they had established "full diplomatic relations with China and India in 1992". 

However, Bangladesh has doggedly pushed back on such moves, including in 2014, when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said "We have been continuing our support to the Palestinians and occupation of their land by the Israelis is never acceptable". She was also critical of Israeli aggression during the latest spate of violence. 

Despite such overt and covert moves and enticements, it remains unlikely, at least in the near future, that relations between the two countries will normalise. A large part of that has less to the do with the government and more to do with public sentiment in the country which has been consistently pro-Palestinian from the start. 

As a Muslim-majority country most people identify so strongly with the Palestinian cause that the word Israel can almost serve as a taboo. 

In 2016, the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina alleged that BNP, the then main opposition party and its ally Jamaat had some connection with Mossad—Israeli intelligence agency— in an attempt to overthrow the ruling Awami League.

A BNP leader, Aslam Chowdhury, was tried and jailed for sedition for reportedly meeting an Israeli politician. 

Back in 2004, Salahuddin Shoaib Chowdhury, a journalist, was jailed for seven years after he attempted to visit Israel on an invitation from the Israeli NGO IFLAC. He was also tried and sentenced for sedition. 

Given such precedent, it is hard to see how Israel will break through the 'iron dome' of Bangladeshi public opinion.