Fifth Muslim country likely to recognize Israel is not Pakistan — minister

JERUSALEM: Israel is working toward formalising relations with a fifth Muslim country, possibly in Asia, during US President Donald Trump’s term, an Israeli cabinet minister said on Wednesday, clarifying that the country was not Pakistan. 
The White House has brokered rapprochements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco this year. Rabat hosted an Israeli-US delegation on Tuesday to flesh out the upgrade in relations.
Asked if a fifth country could sign up before Trump steps down on Jan 20, Regional Cooperation Minister Ofir Akunis told Israel’s Ynet TV: “We are working in that direction.”
“I believe ... there will be an American announcement about another country that is going public with the normalization of relations with Israel and, in essence, with the infrastructure for an accord — a peace accord,” he said.
Akunis said there were two main candidate countries to become the next to move toward normal ties with Israel.
He did not name either but said one is in the Gulf and could be Oman but would not be Saudi Arabia. The other, further to the east, is a “Muslim country that is not small” but is not Pakistan, Akunis said.
Administration officials have said they are trying to get more countries to recognize Israel or warm existing ties to it.
Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country, said last week it would not recognize Israel as long as Palestinian statehood demands remain unmet. Malaysia and Pakistan have signalled a similar policy.
“Malaysia’s firm stance on the Palestinian issue will not change,” Deputy Foreign Minister Kamarudin Jaffar told the country’s senate on Wednesday, adding that Kuala Lumpur would not interfere in other nations’ decisions on Israel.
In Dhaka, a foreign ministry official said Bangladesh was not interested in establishing diplomatic ties with Israel. “Our position remains the same,” he told Reuters.
Oman has praised the US-brokered diplomatic drive but has not commented on its own prospects of forging Israel ties.
The Palestinians, whose negotiations with Israel stalled in 2014, fear being sidelined by the normalization process.