Malaysia will not bow to pressure over Israeli entry ban, says PM Anwar

Malaysia will not be intimidated into changing its decades-old policy of not allowing Israeli nationals into the country, said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on July 22.



He said Malaysia was also not in contravention of any international laws for having such a policy in place.



"I would like to respond to the United States lawmakers, some of them at least, who stated categorically that Malaysia is in contravention of international laws and was disrespectful of the rights of nations. This is totally absurd because, as far was we are concerned, this policy has been adopted by Malaysia for decades, that we are against the presence of any Israeli citizens, not Jews, but Israeli citizens here because they are part and parcel and complicit to the murders, crimes and continuous oppression, colonisation of Palestine and Gaza," he said when met after the "Jelajah Rakan Muda" programme.



On July 21, several US lawmakers called on Washington to review its security and economic ties with Malaysia following Anwar's remarks to deport dual citizenship-holding Israeli nationals in the country.