Bangladesh–Israel Relations

Bangladesh does not recognize Israel, and the countries have no formal diplomatic relations.[1][2] This diplomatic separation coexists with reported trade and proposed humanitarian assistance,[4][6] as well as alleged commercial transactions involving Israeli surveillance technology.[5][2] Such accounts do not establish formal bilateral cooperation.

Bangladesh’s public position has emphasized support for Palestinian statehood and a negotiated settlement. In a 2023 statement, its Foreign Ministry called for restraint, an immediate ceasefire, dialogue, and diplomacy, and said it supported Israel and Palestine living side by side as independent states.[3] Passport restrictions have also served as a visible marker of the policy.[8][9] Bangladesh has separately issued allegations concerning Israeli actions in Gaza.[10]

Bangladesh’s position developed in the context of its growing ties with the Islamic world. Bangladesh joined the Organization of the Islamic Conference in February 1974; a Library of Congress country study describes its later positions at the United Nations as strongly critical of Israeli policies and supportive of a Palestinian state.[11] The study documents policy in the period it covers, especially the 1980s, and does not provide a full account of later developments.

During the 1980s, Bangladesh strongly condemned Israeli policies and supported the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) under Yasir Arafat. Arafat received a warm welcome from President H. M. Ershad and other senior Bangladeshi figures during a 1987 visit.[11] The same study reported that the Bangladeshi government said 8,000 young people had volunteered to fight for the PLO that year, while noting that by mid-1988 the government had taken no official steps to send arms or personnel to Palestine.[11] The volunteer figure is the government’s reported claim in the study, not an independently verified count.

Accounts of the relationship’s beginnings also describe a diplomatic opening that did not lead to ties. JNS reported that Israel offered recognition to Bangladesh in 1971 and that Bangladesh declined; it quoted a former Bangladeshi foreign affairs minister recalling that the country relied on India and the Soviet Union and aligned with the PLO under Arafat.[4] A 2017 Jerusalem Post profile reported instead that Israel recognized Bangladesh in 1972 and that Bangladesh rejected the recognition.[12] Other reports differ over whether Israel was the first country to recognize Bangladesh or among the first.[1][8] The cited sources do not include primary diplomatic records resolving these differences.

Bangladesh’s official statements have repeatedly connected its position on Israel to Palestinian statehood and an end to the conflict. In October 2023, the Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry called for restraint and an immediate ceasefire, opposed occupation and settlements as a path to peace, and endorsed a two-state solution in which Israel and Palestine would live side by side. The statement invoked UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and called for dialogue and diplomacy.[3]

In January 2024, Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry voiced support for South Africa’s allegations against Israel before the International Court of Justice. It accused Israel of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention, called for an immediate suspension of military operations, and urged an end to what it termed the occupation of Palestine and a return to pre-1967 borders.[10] These were Bangladesh’s stated allegations and policy positions, not findings established by the report describing them.

During a March 2024 meeting in Dhaka, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met Jibril al-Rajoub, secretary of Fatah’s Central Committee, who briefed her on developments in the Palestinian arena. The account said Hasina reaffirmed support for Palestinian statehood and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the opening of crossings for aid.[13]

Bangladesh has also taken positions through multilateral voting. The UN Digital Library records that it voted in favor of the General Assembly resolution “Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine” on December 1, 2000; the resolution passed by 149 votes to two, with three abstentions.[7] UN Watch’s database, whose tally is advocacy-group reporting rather than a neutral institutional summary, records 180 Bangladesh votes against Israel at the General Assembly from 2015 onward and no votes for Israel or abstentions in that period.[14]

Passport wording has served as a visible marker of Bangladesh’s policy, but its wording and legal effect have changed or been reported inconsistently. The U.S. Department of State’s 2019 human-rights report said Bangladeshi passports were invalid for travel to Israel “according to government policy.”[15] A 2017 N12 report described passports as valid for all countries except Israel and said Bangladeshi citizens were prohibited from traveling there.[8]

In May 2021, Bangladesh removed the words “Except Israel” from newly issued passports. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan confirmed the change and described it as conformity with international standards. Ynet reported that Bangladesh still did not recognize Israel and that an Israeli Foreign Ministry official welcomed the change and called for diplomatic relations.[1] Ynet characterized the new wording as removing the restriction on visiting Israel, although later reporting noted that Bangladeshi officials had maintained that travel remained prohibited and could lead to legal action.[9]

The clause was reported as returning in April 2025. The Jerusalem Post said a Home Ministry official confirmed that a directive had been issued to restore the wording “valid for all countries except Israel.”[9] A 2026 Jerusalem Post opinion article gave May 24, 2026, as the date of a later reinstatement announcement but did not explain the difference from the 2025 report.[16] A 2025 Globes article also reported that passports carried an Israel exception, while Ynet had reported the clause’s removal in 2021.[17][1]

These changes should not be conflated with diplomatic recognition. Ynet reported in 2021 that Bangladesh still did not recognize Israel, while the 2025 Jerusalem Post account quoted a former Bangladeshi foreign minister as saying that the country’s policy of non-recognition had not changed.[1][9]

There have been limited practical contacts despite the absence of formal relations. Trade data cited by JNS from the World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution database recorded Israeli imports of products originating in Bangladesh worth about $333.74 million between 2010 and 2018. Israeli exports that reached Bangladesh totaled $3.67 million between 2009 and 2015; the cited database had no later data available for Israeli exports to Bangladesh.[4]

During the 2016–2017 Rohingya refugee crisis, Israel’s Foreign Ministry reportedly made a discreet offer to help coordinate delivery of aid packages to refugees in Bangladesh. The account said Bangladeshi officials declined, citing political ramifications and regional sensitivities.[6] Ynet likewise reported that Bangladesh thanked Israel for an offer of humanitarian assistance but could not accept it because of sensitivities.[1]

Reports have also described Israeli technology reaching Bangladeshi authorities through commercial intermediaries. A 2023 Jerusalem Post account summarizing a Haaretz investigation described alleged sales of surveillance technology by companies linked to Israeli businesspeople, including a system reportedly delivered in June 2022 and a Wi-Fi interception system reportedly sold in 2019 for about $3 million. The report said some transactions were routed through Cyprus or companies registered elsewhere and described them as reported commercial dealings, not formal bilateral cooperation.[5] The U.S. Department of State’s 2023 report separately relayed Haaretz’s allegation that Bangladesh’s National Telecommunication Monitoring Center obtained vehicle-mounted surveillance devices from an Israeli company through a Cyprus-registered firm; it presented the transaction as an allegation, not an established account.[2]

Individual encounters have sometimes brought the issue into domestic politics. A 2016 Tikvah Ideas item reported that Aslam Chowdhury, described as a senior figure in the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, met Israeli Druze political consultant Mendi Safadi during an official visit to India. The item said photographs of them appeared in a Bangladeshi newspaper and that Chowdhury was later arrested for sedition; the available account is brief and is not independently corroborated by the other material in this bundle.[18]

A 2017 Jerusalem Post profile reported that Bangladeshi national Shadman Zaman visited Israel and was warned not to return to Bangladesh, where he said he risked arrest. The profile said Zaman and 22 other Bangladeshis had attempted to form a committee promoting relations, and described his grandfather as an advocate of ties.[12] These reports illustrate that advocacy for contact could be politically sensitive, but do not by themselves establish a general policy or the circumstances of every individual case.

The diplomatic divide has persisted alongside occasional discussion of possible future normalization. In September 2023, Ynet reported that Israeli assessments listed Bangladesh, along with Indonesia, Malaysia, Oman, and some African countries, as possible candidates for normalization after a potential agreement with Saudi Arabia. The report also noted that Bangladesh had made no announcement of normalization.[19]

A 2007 article grouped Bangladesh with several Asian Muslim countries that had not established diplomatic relations with Israel and mentioned limited improvements in areas such as tourism and trade. Its explanation, involving governments’ concerns about radical Islamic currents, was offered as a broad account of the countries discussed rather than a Bangladesh-specific explanation.[20] The available material does not provide a detailed account of the reasons behind Bangladesh’s current policy. Its record is instead visible in official statements, multilateral positions, the recognition question, travel rules, and reported practical contacts.

Allegations about Israeli-made surveillance technology have been politically sensitive and remain disputed in the material available. The U.S. Department of State’s 2021 Bangladesh human-rights report said local media reported that Bangladesh was among countries allegedly using Pegasus, an Israeli-made surveillance application. Bangladesh’s information and communication technology minister denied that the software had been purchased, while Citizen Lab said it had detected the spyware on the network of Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited.[21]

The same report summarized allegations in Al Jazeera’s documentary “All the Prime Minister’s Men” that Bangladesh’s military intelligence service had bought Israeli spyware to monitor political opponents. Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the documentary’s findings as a “smear campaign.” The report said the UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson called for an investigation, and that the UN raised concerns about alleged purchases of Israeli surveillance equipment.[21]

Bangladeshi military commanders said equipment had been bought for an army unit intended for UN peacekeeping missions; a UN spokesperson responded that surveillance equipment was not deployed with peacekeeping contingents. Human-rights groups alleged that the equipment was used against political opponents and dissidents.[21] The accounts therefore include competing claims about purchases and intended use; they do not establish every alleged transaction or its purpose.