17 Sep 2025 : What could be termed as a bizarre comment, Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif has claimed that the country is being defamed for corruption, while America has been accepting bribes from Israel openly.
In an interview with journalist Shahzeb Khanzada on Geo TV, the defence minister said, “We are being defamed for taking bribes. American politicians accept bribes from Israel openly. If I have to take bribes, I will do it in a backroom somewhere.”
He said their military bureaucracy, the house of representatives and their ruling elite have submitted that they finance Israel and Israeli lobbies. “We are being defamed, but they do it openly,” Asif said further.
Corruption in Pakistan
His statement comes amid allegations in Pakistan related to a lack of transparency and increasing corruption. Earlier in August, Asif alleged that more than half of Pakistan’s top diplomats were using black money to leave for Portugal.
In an X post, he wrote that the top bureaucrats were moving black money from Pakistan to Portugal. In the post, the defence minister also criticised a close bureaucratic aide of former Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar.
The defence minister further added in the post that due to this level of corruption, politicians are left to “gobble up the leftovers and make a fuss, with neither plots nor foreign citizenship because they have to contest elections.”
Israel and US
Meanwhile, Israel began its offensive against Gaza City. U.S. Secretary Marco Rubio on Monday backed Israel in its attacks against Gaza, calling Hamas “savage terrorists.” In June this year, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu faced a corruption trial in which President Trump supported him, calling it a ‘witch hunt.’ The cases filed in 2019 alleged the Israeli leader of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
In the same interview, Khawaja Asif also said that Islamic nations should establish an NTO-like military alliance, calling it a “defensive alliance.”
Summary : He claimed US politicians take bribes from Israel openly and declared he would follow suit domestically, provoking outrage and calls for clarification from political circles.