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Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has called upon the United States and Turkey to carry out what can only be described as an act of international vigilantism: the abduction of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking on Geo TV, Pakistan's largest television channel, Asif branded Netanyahu "the worst criminal of humanity," a phrase so hyperbolic it might have been lifted from the most fevered corners of anti-Western propaganda. Of course, the real reason may have something to do with Bibi being Israeli and Jewish.
The remarks came in the immediate aftermath of the United States' capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, an event Asif appeared to regard as a convenient precedent. "Turkey may abduct Netanyahu, and we Pakistanis are praying for it," he declared, his words carrying the unmistakable weight of official endorsement.
Asif invoked the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024, insisting that nations must now enforce justice themselves. The ICC's action, he suggested, provided moral and legal cover for extraordinary rendition. He speculated openly about Turkey seizing Netanyahu and transporting him to Ankara, a fantasy that reveals far more about the speaker's worldview than it does about any realistic prospect of international law.
This outburst occurred during a live broadcast that ended abruptly: the anchor, sensing the perilous direction of the conversation, announced that Asif would not remain on air after the break. One can only imagine the discomfort in the studio as a senior minister of a nuclear-armed state casually advocated for the kidnapping of the leader of another sovereign nation.
Such rhetoric is not merely inflammatory; it is a symptom of a deeper malaise in parts of the Muslim world, where Israel is cast not as a state defending itself against existential threats but as the singular embodiment of evil, as Islamic scripture frames it.
The remarks came in the immediate aftermath of the United States' capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, an event Asif appeared to regard as a convenient precedent. "Turkey may abduct Netanyahu, and we Pakistanis are praying for it," he declared, his words carrying the unmistakable weight of official endorsement.
Asif invoked the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024, insisting that nations must now enforce justice themselves. The ICC's action, he suggested, provided moral and legal cover for extraordinary rendition. He speculated openly about Turkey seizing Netanyahu and transporting him to Ankara, a fantasy that reveals far more about the speaker's worldview than it does about any realistic prospect of international law.
This outburst occurred during a live broadcast that ended abruptly: the anchor, sensing the perilous direction of the conversation, announced that Asif would not remain on air after the break. One can only imagine the discomfort in the studio as a senior minister of a nuclear-armed state casually advocated for the kidnapping of the leader of another sovereign nation.
Such rhetoric is not merely inflammatory; it is a symptom of a deeper malaise in parts of the Muslim world, where Israel is cast not as a state defending itself against existential threats but as the singular embodiment of evil, as Islamic scripture frames it.
Asif's claim that "no community has done what Israel has done to Palestinians in the last 4,000-5,000 years" collapses under even the slightest scrutiny, yet it persists because it serves a political purpose: to deflect from the failures of governance, the corruption, the sectarian strife that plague so many states in the region.
The deterioration in Israel-Turkey relations since 2024, marked by trade freezes and airspace closures, provides the backdrop for this fantasy of abduction, but it does nothing to justify it.
The deterioration in Israel-Turkey relations since 2024, marked by trade freezes and airspace closures, provides the backdrop for this fantasy of abduction, but it does nothing to justify it.
What we witness here is the normalization of extremism in high office: a defense minister openly wishing for the forcible removal of a democratically elected leader, cloaked in the language of human rights and international justice.
The civilized world must confront this for what it is: not a legitimate call for accountability, but a dangerous incitement that erodes the very norms Asif pretends to uphold.
The civilized world must confront this for what it is: not a legitimate call for accountability, but a dangerous incitement that erodes the very norms Asif pretends to uphold.
When ministers speak of kidnapping heads of government, the boundary between statecraft and terrorism begins to dissolve. And once dissolved, it is not easily restored.
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