Wisma Putra waiting on UN before deciding on Jerusalem embassy

PARLIAMENT | The decision to open a Malaysian embassy in Jerusalem will only be determined after the city’s final status is decided through Palestinian and Israeli bilateral talks under the two-state solution framework.

Foreign Deputy Minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican said that as a nation which adhered to the Charter of the United Nations, Malaysia must respect the resolution of the UN General Assembly on the status of Jerusalem.

Last December, the UN declared a United States resolution recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as invalid, after a vote which saw 128 countries, including Malaysia, rejecting the American stand, while nine countries supported it.

"If we (Malaysia) take the same action (opening an embassy without determining the status of Jerusalem) like the US, it would send a signal that Malaysia agreed to, or legitimised the action of the US which was criticised by the majority of the international community.

"This will also affect the process of the two-state solution between Palestine and Israel," he said in response to a supplementary question by Kamarudin Jaffar (PKR-Tumpat).

Kamaruddin has asked why Malaysia did not have any representation in Jerusalem, in line with its commitment to fight for Palestinian rights at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today.

However, Reezal Merican stressed that the lack of representative office in Jerusalem did not mean Malaysia had no direct ties with Palestine.

He said Malaysia was among the countries which played a key role in supporting Palestine at the UN, and sponsored the country to be accepted as an observer in the United Nations in 2012.

Malaysia, he stressed, was also committed as a sponsor of the resolution to ensure that the Palestinian flag was raised in 2015, as well as the sponsor of resolution 2334, which condemned Israel's "illegal settlement" in Jerusalem in 2016.

"That is a resolution (2334) that can be considered strong enough to defend Palestinian rights... since 1980, there had never been any resolution for 36 years, and it was done by Malaysia," he added.

- Bernama