Understandably, President General Pervez Musharraf has described his address at a convention of the American Jewish Congress, where he received standing ovation several times, as "a high point" of his latest visit to the US.
It provided him with an opportunity to reach out to America's most influential community - which is instrumental in securing America's unqualified support for Israel - to soften its hostility towards Pakistan and to say things on the sensitive issue of Palestinian rights that people back home like to be championed at such forums. It is no secret that American Jews have the singular privilege to claim both US and Israeli citizenship, and most pay allegiance to the Zionist state.
Had it not been for this powerful Jewish lobby, Israel could not have gone on to pursue its expansionist policy in defiance of the will of the international community as expressed in a number of UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions. Relying on its clout in Congress and the media, it also seeks to undermine countries that it perceives as a potential threat to the anti-Biblical Jewish design for the Middle East.
Pakistan has been in its sights ever since it established its nuclear programme. The country was subjected to a discriminatory sanctions regime under the Pressler Amendment, which did not apply to India although it was responsible for starting a nuclear arms race in the Subcontinent. In the post 9/11 period this country has been under venomous criticism in the US media for alleged links to international terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
Now that the Pakistan government has openly started a process of engagement with Israel, something for which the American Jewish Congress President, Jack Rosen, said his group had been working quietly for the last three years, Pakistan can expect to have more receptive ears within the all powerful opinion and decision makers in the US. Which, needless to say, will serve the country's interest well.
General Musharraf forcefully articulated the concerns of the Muslim peoples vis-à-vis terrorism and Palestinian right to statehood. Though he has been saying this whenever an occasion presents itself, his words had a special significance when he told the Jewish Congress and many of its invitees from the administration, Congress, academia and business community, what they are not used to hear from a statesman known for his realism, breadth of mind and commitment to world peace.
Doing justice to the Palestinians, he said, "will extinguish the anger and frustration that motivates resort to violence and extremism." Also, in line with the government's stated position, he linked Pakistan's recognition of Israel with the establishment of a Palestinian state. He could not say though at what stage of the "roadmap" [the peace plan] Pakistan would recognise Israel, conscious as he must be of the ineluctable uncertainties and hazards lying ahead that are inherent in Israel's Zionist ideology.
There is little hope of the roadmap moving any further than Gaza in the near future. While the Palestinians see the Gaza pullout - the reason cited by Pakistan for starting the engagement process - as the first step towards the end of occupation in West Bank and East Jerusalem as well; for Israel, it is, at least for now, Gaza first and last.
It is plain that the government has come to the realisation that Pakistan's sympathy with the Palestinian cause notwithstanding, it needs to further its own interests by according recognition to the Jewish state. Yet, it is also true that recognition by itself would not translate into normalisation. As General Musharraf said at his press conference in New York on Sunday, it is too early to establish trade ties between the two countries. "If we do it today," he correctly observed, "people may attack the ship bringing the goods." Public opinion has to be prepared first for a clean policy departure on an emotional issue, which is rooted in Muslim psyche, before any ruler of Pakistan thinks of normal relations with Israel, and for Musharraf it will be a historic test of his mettle as a leader.
Israel, unfortunately, is still not ready to accept the moral force of the argument that it cannot go on occupying other people's lands and ensure the security of its people at home or enjoy normal relations with the Muslim world. It must demonstrate its seriousness to act as a civilised member of the international community.