Both Israel and Bangladesh won their independence against the backdrop of genocide. The tragedy of the Holocaust led world leaders on November 29, 1947, to endorse the partition of Palestine and the formation of a Jewish state. Israel then had to fight for its very survival against those who wanted to snuff out its statehood before it even began. So it was also with Bangladesh. Bangladesh won independence in 1971 against the backdrop of Pakistan’s attempts at genocide.
Despite the similarities of their respective births, the two states, have never established formal diplomatic relations. For decades, Bangladesh has maintained a stance of quiet hostility toward Israel, going so far as to bar its citizens from traveling to the Jewish state. While this position may have played well to the gallery of Muslim solidarity, it is past time for Dhaka to reassess its diplomatic posture. Bangladesh could benefit immensely from a strategic alliance with Israel.
This reluctance to recognize Israel is ironic, considering that Israel was one of the first countries to extend a hand of recognition to Bangladesh after its 1971 liberation from Pakistan. Unlike Israel, it was the Islamist world that ignored the atrocities committed by the Pakistani army and its Islamist collaborators, Jamaat-e-Islami. The horrors visited upon the people of Bangladesh—massacres, infanticide, rape, and wanton slaughter—echo the savagery of the century’s worst genocides.
The October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel should strike a nerve for Bangladesh because of the parallels to Bangladesh’s birth. Bangladeshis too well remember the beheadings, the indiscriminate killing of women and children, and the abductions of the elderly.
Bangladesh and Israel also face similar threats from radical Islamists. While Hamas and Hezbollah continue to menace Israel, groups like Jamaat-e-Islami, a radical Islamist political party with a violent past, besiege Bangladesh. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, ousted in an August 2023 coup, Bangladesh took steps to curb the influence of those extremists. Her government restored some justice by prosecuting Jamaat-e-Islami war criminals.
Such a hard-line stance came at a cost. Hasina’s opponents, most notably the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), have aligned themselves with Islamist groups. When Hasina’s government fell, Islamists launched a pogrom against Bangladesh’s minority Hindu population. The scenes were familiar: houses looted and torched, temples desecrated, women violated—all with impunity. The same forces that target Jews in Israel also turn their ire on Hindus, Christians, and secular Muslims across South Asia.
As Islamists now threaten to destabilize the region, Bangladesh should welcome Israel’s experience in counterterrorism and intelligence, rather than reject it at the peril of the country’s fragile mosaic. For Bangladesh, a relationship with Israel should be one of strategic interest. Israel’s close alliance with India, for example, should pique Dhaka’s interest. While Bangladesh and India share an uneasy history, both countries are traditionally closer to each other than to Pakistan. India and Bangladesh’s recent rapprochement, particularly in trade and security, suggests pragmatic understanding. India’s deepening ties with Israel, built around defense cooperation and intelligence sharing, have bolstered its position as a regional power. Bangladesh could similarly enhance its own security and development.
Israel’s cutting-edge technology in fields like water management, agriculture, and cybersecurity could transform Bangladesh. As one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, Bangladesh could benefit from Israeli innovations in desalination, irrigation, and renewable energy.
Bangladesh’s long-standing refusal to engage with Israel no longer serves the country’s interests. With radical Islamism, terrorism, and political instability growing, Bangladesh cannot afford to posture on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In an increasingly volatile world, Bangladesh has much to gain from recognizing the Jewish state. The time has come for Dhaka to rethink its position, open the door to dialogue, and forge a partnership with Israel that could ensure greater stability and prosperity for both nations.
