Netanyahu reacts after Pakistan Defence Minister calls ‘to get rid of European Jews’ amid peace talks | World News

The Prime Minister’s Office:

Pakistan Defence Minister’s call for Israel’s annihilation is outrageous. This is not a statement that can be tolerated from any government, especially not from one that claims to be a neutral arbiter for peace.

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) April 9, 2026

Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Thursday posted on X: “Israel is evil and a curse for humanity, while peace talks are underway in Islamabad, genocide is being committed in Lebanon. Innocent citizens are being killed by Israel, first Gaza, then Iran and now Lebanon, bloodletting continues unabated. I hope and pray people who created this cancerous state on Palestinian land to get rid of European jews burn in hell.”

This has put Pakistan’s position as a neutral mediator in the Middle East under a question.

While Khawaja Asif’s statement posted at 10:32 PM was downright hostile towards Israel, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif portrayed that it was still in favour of diplomacy. In an X post 10 minutes later at 10:42 PM, Sharif said that he had a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz, where he reiterated that Pakistan was “sincere” in its diplomatic efforts. “We agreed that adherence to the ceasefire is of utmost importance in order for the negotiations to lead to meaningful and lasting results.”

Earlier in the day, Israel had said that it didn’t trust Pakistan as a ‘credible player’ in the peace talks. Reuven Azar, Israel’s ambassador to India, said: “We don’t see Pakistan as a credible player. I think that the United States has decided to use the services of the facilitation of Pakistan for their own reasons. We have seen in the past how the United States has managed to take problematic states like Qatar and Turkey and use them for the benefit of achieving an agreement with Hamas… For us, it is very important to stay in sync with the United States when it comes to the substance and the essence of the outcome we want to see.”