REPORTS that Islamabad is secretly hobnobbing with Israel in an attempt to initiate broader diplomatic ties are highly disturbing. These reports also point to the presence of a camp office in Tel Aviv for the same purpose. The Foreign Office has rejected any such possibility, but at the same time there is strong reason to believe that it might be planning on the same lines in an attempt to curry favour with the Americans. Besides, given Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoods docile posturing, indeed in a manner more loyal than the king, fawning upon the Obama Administration, he could be expected to woo the Israelis. The Foreign Office would definitely be more than happy to extend a hand of friendship to Israel, given the US factor. The spadework of course had already been done by former President Pervez Musharraf who had openly tried to start diplomatic ties with Israel. The Istanbul meeting, in which Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri met with Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom, followed by General Musharrafs much hyped address to the Council for World Jewry in New York clearly showed their obsession to get in the good books of the Zionist entity. But as the saying goes, the leopard can never change its spots; Israel remains as impudent and hostile as it was before. It is simply outrageous that Islamabad should be interested in establishing ties with a country that is virtually hell-bent on our destruction solely because of our Islamic character. Have we forgotten the Saudi Intelligence alarm that had warned us about the Indo-Israeli plan to blow up Kahuta and other nuclear installations shortly before we were about to conduct nuclear tests? Secondly, Israel regularly carries out extensive military exercises with New Delhi. There is absolutely no doubt that Israel hates us for being the only atomic power in the entire Islamic world. Most important of all, our stand should be based on Israels barbarous occupation of Palestinian lands. Palestinian men, women and children are slaughtered as if they were animals. Every human being with a conscience was shocked at the monstrous atrocity on board the aid flotilla taking emergency food and medical supplies for starving people in Gaza. Under the circumstances, the government must not even flirt with the idea of getting close to Israel. Rather, a country that is in the lead when it comes to state terrorism and indeed takes pride in it must be isolated.