Malaysia Has Never Had Diplomatic Ties With Israel

KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has never had any diplomatic ties with Israel, Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said, telling the Lower House of Parliament Wendesday that such policy is clear and has never changed. Malaysia has been consistent in expressing its concern and condemnation against Israeli attacks and intrusion into the territories occupied by Palestinians, and against Israel's illegal settlements in the West Bank, he said. "As a country which cares and sympathises with Palestine, Malaysia has been and will continue to support the Palestinians in terms of social, politics and economy. This includes financial and humanitarian assistance through the reconstruction aid for Gaza and West Bank. "Malaysia also provides training to Palestine under the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme and other assistance given by non-governmental organisations," he said in reply to a question from Juslie Ajirol, a Member of Parliament during question time. Anifah also touched on the statement made by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim who was quoted by the Wall Street Journal in January as supporting the security of Israel, sending the house in rupture when opposition members rose and objected to the statement which they claimed as baseless. Nurul Izzah ANWAR, another Member of Parliament from the opposition party accused Anifah of trying to confuse the house and deliberately use the question time opportunity to hurl accusations against Anwar. She also demanded that Anifah be referred to the Rights and Privilege Committee if he refused to withdraw his remark, prompting Deputy Speaker Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar to retort, "There is no need to teach me how to do my job." "Let me do my job, let me make my own decision. Don't push me," he said. Khalid Samad, Azmin Ali, and Yusmadi Yusuf (trio from opposition party) also rose and joined in the pandemonium. The chaos lasted nearly 30 minutes, with Bung Mokhtar Radin and Mohamed Aziz lashing out at the opposition members. Wan Junaidi put the house back in order by disallowing any more supplementary questions about the matter and ordered the members to move on to the next question. -- BERNAMA