US summons Malaysia envoy over Israel policy

Malaysia does not have any diplomatic ties with Israel and has rooted its stance within the Palestinian cause. The US Department of State has summoned Malaysia’s ambassador to the United States over his country’s longstanding policy on Israel, state news agency Bernama reported.Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said on Thursday night that Ambassador Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaakob told the US State Department that Malaysia’s policy on not recognising the state of Israel was not new.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Four Palestinians killed as Israeli settlers raid occupied West Bank townlist 2 of 4China’s Xi Jinping launches new AI alliance: What is it?list 3 of 4How have countries around the world responded to the US-Israel war on Iran?list 4 of 4Southeast Asia’s homegrown artists are knocking K-pop off its pedestalend of list“It has always been Malaysia’s policy. Our immigration policy does not recognise the State of Israel or the Zionist regime. This has long been our position,” Bernama cited Hasan as saying.“There was an individual with dual citizenship, the US and Israel, who entered Malaysia using his US passport. However, subsequent checks revealed that he also held Israeli citizenship, and we asked him to leave.”Malaysia does not have any diplomatic ties with Israel and has emphasised its support for the Palestinian cause and against Israeli actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.But the incident was triggered after the Network School, a “digital nomad” community founded in the country by US investor Balaji Srinivasan, came under fire when social media users claimed it included participants from Israel.A probe into Network School followed, and while Malay authorities found that all participants had valid travel documents, the school was still shut down on Tuesday.Later, eight US congressmen sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing outrage over Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s plan to track any Israeli citizens in the country and immediately deport them.