Claims that Malaysia and Israel are mulling an agreement allowing visa-free travel between their citizens are untrue.
In fact, Malaysia continues to have no diplomatic relations with Israel, while Malaysian passports cannot be used for travel to Israel except for specific cases of religious pilgrimage.
The seemingly wild speculation came from X account Kopitiam Malaya, based on a posting on X by Israeli MP Danny Danon in September.
At the time, Danon had posted a photo of Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail in the UN General Assembly meeting and sarcastically said it “warmed (his) heart” to see Saifuddin listening to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the posting in Hebrew, he also joked that maybe this means the next visa-free travel destination for Israelis would be Malaysia.
Malaysia is a target of potshots by Israeli politicians and social media influencers, due to Malaysia’s strong pro-Palestinian stance.
At the same assembly, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in his address defended the call for Palestinian statehood.
In fact, Saifuddin said, the photograph of him was when he was listening to Anwar’s speech, as part of the Malaysian delegation.
Danon made the posting on Sept 22, the same day both Anwar and Netanyahu gave their speeches.
Responding to the Kopitiam Malaya post, Saifuddin said the social media account was clearly intended to spread “slander and malicious narrative” against him and the Malaysian government.
“Israel, stop being so full of yourself. In his speech at the UN General Assembly, the (Malaysian) prime minister strongly condemned Israel’s actions in front of everyone!” Saifuddin said on X today.
Who is Kopitiam Malaya?
Who is Kopitiam Malaya, the source of this claim of Israel-Malaysia diplomacy?
Kopitiam Malaya’s X account was created in December 2023, but its first post was on Feb 15, to respond to allegations against the NGO, Aman Palestin.
Aman Palestin leaders were on Feb 15 charged with 161 counts in total for criminal breaches of trust, cheating and money laundering involving RM40 million.
The accused were Aman Palestin chief executive officer Awang Suffian Awang Piut, and its executive director Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman.
Abdullah was once president of the controversial conservative Islamist group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma).
Kopitiam Malaya’s direct link to Aman Palestin or Isma is unclear, but the postings made by the account since Feb 15 show that it has consistently defended Aman Palestin and amplified content produced or related to Isma’s TV Pertiwi.
TV Pertiwi operates in the same building as Isma and its chairperson, Norzila Baharin, was once chief of the Isma’s women’s wing.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission suspended the web TV and online portal soon after suspending its TikTok account for spreading misinformation.
Malaysiakini is part of the Malaysian fact-checking alliance JomCheck.
Through JomCheck, Malaysians can submit requests to fact-check a claim by sending a WhatsApp message to the tipline at 017-477 6659 (WhatsApp text only, no calls) or via this link. - Mkini
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