Bangladesh–Israel relations

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Bangladesh–Israel relations

Israel
Bangladesh

Bangladesh and Israel do not maintain any diplomatic relation, although through the USA and the European Union, Bangladesh earns a bit from exporting to Israel.[1] Bangladesh said that it will not recognize Israel until there is an independent Palestine.[2] However, in recent times there have been talks between politicians of both countries to consider establishing relations with each other.[3]

Diplomacy

File:Bangladeshi Passport prohibits to travel to Israel.jpg
The Bangladeshi passport is valid for all countries of the world except Israel

Bangladesh is one of 29 UN member states which does not recognize the state of Israel. It is one of several countries which officially bans its citizens from traveling to Israel and does not accept Israeli passports.[4][5][6]

In November 2003, the pro-Zionist Bangladeshi journalist Salah Choudhury was arrested for attempting to fly to Tel Aviv, arraigned for "sedition, treason, and blasphemy", and sentenced to a seven-year prison term.[7][8]

Bangladesh supports a sovereign Palestinian state and an end to Israel's "illegal occupation of Palestine".[5]

In a statement published in the Jerusalem Post, an Israeli government spokesperson said, "We have no conflict with Bangladesh. We want dialogue. We want people-to-people relations. We welcome the religious-minded people of Bangladesh to visit the holy land of Jerusalem".[9] Israel fruitlessly "sought a relationship with Bangladesh" after they had established "full diplomatic relations with China and India in 1992".[10] Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina said in 2014, "We have been continuing our support to the Palestinians and occupation of their land by the Israelis is never acceptable".[11] A former foreign minister of Bangladesh Dipu Moni said Dhaka was yet to take any decision regarding the establishment of relations between Bangladesh and Israel.[3]

Trade

Bangladesh maintains a ban on trade with Israel, even though both countries are members of the WTO.[10][12] In 2014, it was found from the official statistics of the Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau that Bangladesh had exported a small amount of merchandise goods worth about US$2,577 to Israel in 2013–14 fiscal year.[13][14] However, in recent years it is said that Bangladesh products are exported to Israel from USA or European Union.[15]

Bangladesh liberation war

Israel was one of the first nations to recognize Bangladesh.[16] Both the Israeli government and general public supported the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. After the independence of Bangladesh, the newly minted country was recognized by Israel on 4 February 1972; however, the Bangladesh Government officially rejected the recognition.[9][17][18] On behalf of the Bangladeshi Government, the then foreign minister of Bangladesh Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad sent a letter to the Israeli Government saying that they could not accept the Israeli recognition.[9]

2006 Lebanon War

In the immediate aftermath of the 2006 Lebanon War, Bangladesh offered to send battalions of its infantrymen to help with the UN peacekeeping force, but Israel rejected it, stating Bangladesh does not recognize Israel.[19] Although Israel rejected the country's participation, Bangladesh and Nepal were the first countries whose troops reached the shores of south Lebanon, whereas western nations, such as the original leader and top contributor, France, delayed their deployment. As of 25 May 2015 Bangladesh has 326 participating in UNIFIL in Lebanon.[20]

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.

Use <references />, or <references group="..." />
  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Bangladesh–Israel_relations&oldid=709001376"