Hisham gets another brickbat over offer of troops for Jerusalem

PETALING JAYA: A defence analyst has criticised Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein for offering to send troops to Jerusalem, saying such careless rhetoric can undermine efforts to engage politically with the Israeli regime.

The Australia-based analyst, who declined to be named, said he was in agreement with National Patriots Association (NPA) president Brig-Gen (Rtd) Mohd Arshad Raji, who on Monday described the conflict over Jerusalem as a political issue and not a military one.

“It is best left to diplomacy to sort out this historical mess,” Arshad said. “If diplomacy fails, the next course of action can be international condemnation. Blindly making a declaration to commit our troops is unwise.”

“The NPA president is correct,” said the analyst. “It is a political issue and diplomacy is the only way it shall be resolved.

“If Malaysia was intent on easing the suffering of the Palestinian people and standing shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinian authority or whomever it deems to be the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people, it would lobby within the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) to re-engage with the two-state process.”

The so-called two-state solution envisions an independent Palestine and is seen to be the mainstream approach to resolving the conflict.

Hishammuddin’s offer came ahead of an extraordinary OIC summit in Istanbul to discuss the implications of the United States administration’s announcement that it was relocating its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in recognition of the city as Israel’s capital.

The analyst noted that the United Nations had tried to engage with the OIC and the League of Arab Nations to build upon existing agreements, including relevant UN Security Council resolutions, to advance a final accord.

“These efforts have been largely abandoned for various reasons, most notably the wars in Iraq and Syria,” he said.

“The opportunity has arrived for a renewed effort. Statements such as the one made by the Malaysian defence minister undermine legitimate efforts to engage politically with Israel.”

However, he said he doubted that the summit would produce a substantive communique.

“There’s nothing tangible without Saudi Arabia’s acquiescence, which has not been forthcoming,” he told FMT. -FMT