Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s advisers are reportedly worried about how his stance will play with the US president
February 21, 2025 11:25
ByJC Reporter, Jewish News Syndicate
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim – who has been a vocal supporter of Hamas – has been told by his advisers to tone down his rhetoric on the Gaza war to prevent US President Donald Trump from imposing tariffs on Kuala Lumpur, Bloomberg reported this week, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia and its Economy Ministry initially failed to answer a Bloomberg request for comment on Wednesday, while its International Trade and Industry Ministry declined to respond.
Speaking with reporters in Bahrain on Thursday, Ibrahim said he was “not choosing to oppose anyone, but wherever there is oppression and cruelty, we must stand in defence of the oppressed.” He continued, “We have our own stance and have expressed it firmly on various platforms.”
America is Muslim-majority Malaysia’s third-largest trading partner — slightly behind China and Singapore — and it is one of the largest holders of foreign investment stock in the country, according to the State Department.
Following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre that killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel, Malaysia’s prime minister called the terrorist group’s then “political” leader Ismail Haniyeh to express his “unwavering support for the Palestinian people.”
Ibrahim also condemned Israel’s military response in the Gaza Strip, referring to the ground operation as “genocide” and “the height of barbarism,” while describing Hamas as “freedom fighters”.
Defying calls by the Biden administration to cut ties with the Islamist terrorist group, Ibrahim sat down with top Hamas leaders in Doha in May 2024.
However, in an interview with CNN’s Richard Quest that aired shortly after Trump was re-elected in November, Ibrahim answered “yes” to the question of whether he recognises Israel’s right to exist and defend itself.
“The only concern, Richard, is the attempt by the discourse, particularly in the West, to erase the decades prior to October 7,” Ibrahim told the US broadcaster. “We must stop the excesses on both sides.”
Malaysia, a country with sizeable Buddhist and Christian minorities, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
At the same time, Hamas’s “military” wing is known to run operations in Malaysia. In 2010, Hamas sent a group of men to the country to train in paragliding. Hamas used paragliders to infiltrate Israel on October 7.
In 2023 Ibrahim said his nation would maintain ties with Hamas and would "not punish" the group. He also urged media outlets not to describe Hamas fighters as "militants", comparing the group with the African National Congress (ANC), which sought to end apartheid in South Africa.
According to the Bloomberg report, Malaysian officials are becoming increasingly worried that the new US administration will impose higher tariffs on the Southeast Asian nation’s export-heavy economy.
More specifically, Kuala Lumpur is concerned Trump could take action against the country’s “burgeoning semiconductor industry and a raft of AI-powered data centre investments,” the US outlet’s sources said.