Fresh Air

No one in Malaysian politics ever suffered reputational damage for expressing antisemitic or extreme anti-Israel opinions. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Where Malaysian politicians are concerned, too much antisemitism and anti-Israel invective is never enough.

The Muslim majority nation is far and away the most virulently antisemitic and anti-Israel country in Southeast Asia.

Malaysia has never had diplomatic relations with Israel. Israeli passport holders are not allowed to enter the country and Malaysian passports include the warning – “Valid for all countries except Israel.”

There is a negligible Jewish presence in Malaysia, but you wouldn’t know that from the country’s oversized preoccupation with Jews and Israel.

Since Hamas’ horrifying October 7 massacre, the rhetoric by two of Malaysia’s most consequential political figures of the last half century – former Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohammed and current PM Anwar Ibrahim – is a fair reflection of the country’s animus towards the Jewish state.

In an interview with DW News, PM Ibrahim said he did “not condone [October 7]” but, “of course, [it was] understandable because people have been victimised [for] so long.”

On October 8 2023, Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry put out a statement calling the Israeli Government an “apartheid administration”.

Yet already on October 24, 2023, only two weeks after October 7 – when Hamas killed more Jews in a single day since the Holocaust – Ibrahim had told the ‘Malaysia Stands with Palestine’ rally that Israel’s response to October 7 was “the height of barbarism in this world.”

On October 16, 2023, Ibrahim called Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh – not PA President Mahmoud Abbas – and pledged Malaysia’s “unwavering support for the Palestinian people.”

In May 2024, seven months after October 7, Ibrahim had no compunction in meeting with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh during an official state visit to Qatar.

Pictures from the catch-up show two men who are relaxed in each other’s company.

Ibrahim – who previously met with Haniyeh in 2019 and 2020 – defended his latest encounter post-October 7.

According to a report in the Straits Times:

Mr Anwar said he told [Haniyeh]… to release Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, and to accept the two-state solution.

“Is that an offence? Did I promote terrorism? No,” he said. 

“I appealed (to the Hamas leaders) because I have an advantage. What’s my advantage? I know them and they consider me a friend,” he added.

After Haniyeh’s assassination in Teheran on July 31, Ibrahim offered effusive condolences, tweeting:

The torch of your struggle will continue to burn and burn our spirit to continue opposing tyranny and corruption.

This struggle path is not easy because decades of oppression and suffering will only breed new strength and enthusiasm for the fighters.

After many members of his family were martyred in the struggle, now it is Ismail’s turn to be shot by the cowardly regime.

I sincerely hope that our spirit does not fade and waver and must remain strong to create victory.

May heaven be with you, friend.

When Facebook took down Ibrahim’s glowing tribute to Haniyeh, he blasted the social media platform, tweeting:

It doesn’t make sense when a tribute to a fighter who tried to free his homeland from tyranny and suffering is considered dangerous. My stern warning to Meta – don’t be a bastard and a tool of the tyrannical Zionist Israeli regime!

On October 20, 2024, Ibrahim used his Facebook account to lionise October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar, writing:

Malaysia mourns the loss of a warrior and defender of the Palestinian people, Al Syahid Yahya Sinwar who was brutally murdered by the barbaric Zionist regime.

Once again the international community has failed to fight and ensure peace and justice prevailed thus exacerbating the conflict situation.

For long time Ibrahim watchers, none of this was new.

As the US Jewish human rights organisation B’nai Brith noted in a letter it sent to the Obama Administration in 2010:

His frequent criticisms of the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak are infused with anti-Jewish and anti-Israel slanders, such as his April 30 assertion that Israeli spies are “directly involved in the running of the government.” On another occasion he alleged the presence of “Israeli intelligence personnel in the Police IT unit.”

Ibrahim also has said in parliament that the “Jewish-controlled” public relations firm hired by the Prime Minister was attempting to manipulate Malaysia to support U.S. policies. In the run-up to Malaysia’s 2008 elections, he said in an interview with IslamOnline, “I have evidence proving that the government is backing the Jewish lobby in the U.S. and some parties inside Israel.”

Yet, remarkably, just two years later, then-Opposition Leader Ibrahim was excoriated for qualified remarks he made to the Wall Street Journal that were interpreted as being too pro-Israel:

 “I support all efforts to protect the security of the state of Israel,” said Mr. Anwar, although he stopped short of saying he would open diplomatic ties with the Jewish state, a step which he said remains contingent on Israel respecting the aspirations of Palestinians. Malaysia has consistently refrained from establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, although limited commercial ties exist between private companies in the two countries.

The response was immediate and harsh.

As one news report noted:

Former premier Mahathir Mohamed said he was not surprised by Anwar’s statements.

“He (Anwar) has sympathy for the Jews and has many friends in the United States’ Congress and Senate that are of Jewish origin,” he told reporters after giving a lecture at the Putrajaya International Convention Center…

Mahathir also said that Anwar only focused on Israel’s safety in the first part of the interview.

“Suddenly, after much criticism, he now claims that he supports the two-state solution,” he said.

“He never mentioned anything about the safety of the Palestinian people who were the real victims.”

The report also quoted Khairy Jamaluddin, the chief of the youth wing of the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO), accusing Anwar of giving “blanket support for anything Israel does.”

Despite all these examples, as prime minister Ibrahim has been pragmatic enough to prioritise Malaysia’s national interests ahead of the Palestinian cause.   

In June 2024, Ibrahim refused calls to block US fund manager Blackrock from investing in Malaysia because of its ties to Israel, saying, “If a company has interests in Israel… Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, they all have interests in Israel. Should we stop dealing (with them)? It sounds good, it’s nice for people to hear that we are great fighters. But it’s not realistic… It’s like being more Hamas than Hamas.”

Yet Ibrahim is a relative newcomer compared to long-serving former Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohammed (1981-2003 and 2018-2020) who, at 99, can be described as the “Energiser Bunny” of antisemitism, relentlessly marching to the beat of his own hateful drum for more than half a century.

For decades, Mahathir has regularly made the news with appalling outbursts about Israel and Jews that tap into classic antisemitic tropes. He is also proud to self-identify as an antisemite.

In 1984, the New York Philharmonic cancelled its Kuala Lumpur concerts after Mahathir’s Government said it couldn’t include a piece by Jewish Swiss composer Ernst Bloch called “Shlomo: A Hebrew Rhapsody.”

Ten years later, he banned Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust film – “Schindler’s List” – from being screened in Malaysia and also called the Jews “Goebbels most gifted children.”

The ban was later extended to cover all Spielberg movies.

Following a casual aside in 2018 that only four million and not six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, he insisted that his 1970 comments about “hook-nosed Jews” running the world were justified, adding that, “If you are going to be truthful, the problem in the Middle East began with the creation of Israel. That is the truth.”

In 2003, at the Organization of the Islamic Conference held in Malaysia, Mahathir issued a global call to arms against the Jewish people:

“1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews. There must be a way. And we can only find a way if we stop to think, to assess our weaknesses and our strength, to plan, to strategize and then to counterattack. We are actually very strong. 1.3 billion people cannot be simply wiped out. The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million. But today the Jews rule this world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.” 

During his most recent stint as Prime Minister, Mahathir showed his animus for Israel extends way beyond mere rhetoric.

In 2019, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) stripped Malaysia of the right to host the World Para Swimming Championships after Mahathir overturned a commitment made by his predecessor to allow Israelis to participate in the competition.

Mahathir was indifferent to losing the event, telling the media, “They want to cancel it, then cancel it… I do not understand why the world must follow Israel. The world has the power, but they choose to obey Israel. We do not obey.”

So, it is hardly surprising that last month the now 99-year-old proud antisemite Mahathir was more than happy to record a video message for a three-day conference (October 5 to 7) in Turkey with the grandiose title of “Palestine: The Linchpin of Civilization Renaissance.”

Co-sponsored by the “Kuala Lumpur Forum Thought and Civilization,” the conference included a rogues’ gallery of antisemites and anti-Israel activists.

According to one news report, Mahathir told the conference:

1. we should condemn the Muslims who are complicit in Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. He was apparently referring to the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan which have established relations with Israel in recent years and declined to sever ties with Israel for genocide of Palestinians.
2. October 7 marks a significant day as Palestinians resolved to send a message to the world that they are determined to liberate their land after their cause was nearly forgotten amidst the sustained blockade, expanding settlements, attacks on Al Aqsa Mosque, the Judaization of Jerusalem, and the imposition of apartheid policies on all Palestinians.
3. If anyone had doubts, the US intervention in Iran’s retaliation against Israel proved that the Israelis or Zionists rule the world by proxy.

Yet, just like Ibrahim, for all of Mahathir’s unabashed, raw antisemitism, he too is not immune from accusations of being a Zionist lackey.

In 2010, a column in Malaysia Today – The Real Dr. Mahathir: A Good Friend of Jews and a Stooge of the US – skewered him:

Former prime minister… Dr Mahathir Mohamad said if… Anwar Ibrahim was loyal to Jewish groups, he could not be loyal to his own country.

… On the basis of this logic, a certain ex-PM called Dr. Mahathir has been disloyal to Malaysia. 

Mahathir had engaged Salmon Smith Barney (a Jewish firm) as his financial advisor during the currency crisis. He had also engaged Goldman Sach (sic) (another Jewish firm) for other tasks. Mahathir’s son, Mirzan, worked for Salomon Brothers (a Jewish firm). Mahathir reconciled with George Soros, a Jew he once despised, when Soros visited Malaysia a few years ago and openly declared (for reasons which are still a mystery) that Soros had not been responsible for Malaysia’s financial crisis. 

Abramoff, a Jew, arranged a meeting between Mahathir and George Bush after Mahathir’s government paid US$1.2m to the Heritage Foundation managed by Abramoff. These are only just some of the Mahathir-Jewish partnerships. So who is the Jews’ good friend? Mahathir or Anwar? 

Ibrahim and Mahathir are not alone in being accused of being Zionist agents, despite being vehemently anti-Israel and/or antisemtic.

In 2015, then PM Najib Razak was accused of being a Zionist after he reciprocated Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu’s greetings at the United Nations. Nine years later, in June 2024, the accusation that Razak is a Zionist circulated again on social media.

After Hamas used paragliders as one of the methods to infiltrate Israel on October 7, Israel reported that as far back as 2014, Hamas operatives undertook paragliding training in the south-east Asian country, which would have happened on Razak’s watch.

Accusing one’s enemy of being a Jewish or Zionist stooge is a rite of passage in Malaysia politics.

Therein lies the absurdity.

If so many of Malaysia’s highest-ranking leaders are secretly Zionist lackeys, you would think that one of them would have managed to establish diplomatic relations with the Jewish state by now.

It is easy to chuckle at the extreme obsession and paranoia of a polity that includes practically no Jews yet is endlessly trying to find and expose the hidden, subversive agents of the Jews living among them.

But as David Nirenberg in his 2013 book Anti-Judaism on antisemitism’s long history noted, “questions about [Jews and Judaism] are inculcated into the habits of thought with which people make sense of the world.” And Malaysia’s Jewish obsessions have real life consequences, not only for Jews and Israel, but for Malaysians, whose government policies are being decided by a focus on conspiracy theories rather than logic, data and international best practice.