KEY POINTS
- Dr Haim Bresheeth Zabner revealed that Israel is supporting Baloch militias to attack Pakistan.
- Zabner said the support is part of broader strategy to destabilise states in the region.
- He described Israel’s role as part of what he called the West’s “chaos engine”.
ISLAMABAD: An Israeli historian and prominent academician has revealed that Israel is supporting Baloch terrorist groups to carry out attacks in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province and destabilise the South Asian country.
Dr Haim Bresheeth Zabner, a former Israel Defence Forces (IDF) conscript and retired academic based in Britain, made the revelations in a recent interview widely reported in mainstream media and circulated on social media.
In the video clip, Dr Zabner said Israel is backing Baloch militias as part of what he described as a broader Western strategy to destabilise states across the Middle East and South Asia.
“Israel is now supporting the Balochi militia against Pakistan as part of a broader strategy that has contributed to the destruction of societies and states across the region,” Bresheeth Zabner said, linking the claim to conflicts in countries including Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya.
“What we are witnessing is a machinery of destruction that has already turned countries such as Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon into deeply destabilised states,” he said.
“This is what I describe as the ‘chaos engine’ of the West, in which Israel plays a role by supporting proxy forces that weaken entire societies and political systems,” he said.
Bresheeth Zabner is a former professor of film studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London and the author of An Army Like No Other: How the IDF Made a Nation, published in 2020.
Born to Holocaust survivors, Dr Zabner was raised in Israel and served as an IDF conscript during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, including service as a junior officer in the Golani infantry brigade.
The allegation comes amid heightened militancy in Balochistan, where Pakistan says coordinated attacks by “India-backed” banned terrorist groups, including the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), killed dozens of people in late January and early February.
Pakistani authorities said the security forces have killed more than 177 terrorists during intelligence-based operations in a swift response to coordinated attacks. Pakistan claimed that the attackers were in constant contact with their handlers based in Afghanistan.
Pakistani analysts have long spoken of a nexus involving India and Israel to destabilise Balochistan, which is strategically important due to its mineral wealth and its role in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, including the Gwadar port project.
Islamabad has also repeatedly accused foreign actors of backing the insurgency, including India and terrorist sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told reporters that the coordinated attacks across Balochistan were planned and directed by terrorist groups operating from Afghan territory.
Asif said the attacks were carried out by the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and affiliated groups, adding that intelligence reports and confessional statements from detained terrorists pointed to foreign backing.
The defence minister revealed a direct link between India and the BLA, describing the group as a proxy force, and reiterated that it is designated as a terrorist organisation under both Pakistani law and international listings.
Authorities said the attacks began early Saturday across multiple districts of Balochistan, targeting civilians and security forces.
Security sources said that at least 177 terrorists have been killed during the security forces’ operation against the terrorists and foiled the attacks.
Asif said Pakistan had repeatedly raised concerns about terrorist safe havens across the Afghan border and would take all necessary measures, in line with its constitutional and international obligations, to defend itself against threats originating inside or outside its territory.
