Kuala Lumpur – Jewish Link Claims Play Out in Malaysian Elections

Kuala Lumpur – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s efforts to tar Barisan Nasional (BN) with Israeli links may not bring in Malay votes to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR), as the ruling coalition appears to be ahead of the PKR leader in the “Jewish conspiracy” game, analysts say.

Anwar and his PKR colleagues have been linking BN with Israel since last month, claiming that Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1 Malaysia was a carbon copy of Ehud Barak’s One Israel and that the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters had been infiltrated by Tel Aviv agents.

“Maybe they will use that to get Malay votes especially in rural areas and as part of psychological war to make sure Pakatan can retain Hulu Selangor, as at the same time Anwar has been accused of having foreign support but it will be backfire,” said political scientist Dr Sivamurugan Pandian.

“So I’m not sure it’s going to work on Anwar’s side; maybe now he is going to prove [the] government is doing just that,” Sivamurugan told The Malaysian Insider.

An Umno campaigner in the Hulu Selangor by-election, however, doubts that the PR campaign will rely on the Jewish link allegations to win the Malay votes.

“It will backfire, they have stronger links to the Jews, we have pictures; it is more concrete. What can they show to the voters? They can’t just drop names in the campaign,” he said, referring to the picture of Anwar and former World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz.

That picture has been shown in Malay areas in every election since 2008 and a video alleging Anwar’s and his party’s close ties with international Jewish groups has also been in circulation for years.

During the Permatang Pauh by-election two years ago which saw Anwar making a dramatic comeback, banners were put up across the constituency claiming that the PKR de facto leader was planning to establish a diplomatic relationship with Israel if he comes to power.

“You must remember that all the evidence against Anwar have not been played up in the mainstream media, you only see them during elections or in blogs, once they are picked up by newspapers, he is finished,” said the campaigner.

However, leading Muslim NGO, Teras, believed the anti-Israeli sentiment will work in PR’s favour due to the strong attention given by the Malay-Muslim community to the situation in Palestine.

“I would like to see the government contracts and the Palestinian issues separately, but because the situation in Palestine has worsened, I’m sure it will affect the Malay voters’ sentiment,” said Teras head, Azmi Abdul Hamid.

“They (PKR) will benefit from more Malay support, as they can show to the Malays Umno is not really serious in addressing the Palestinian issues,” he added.

UKM’s Dr Muhammad Agus Yusoff believed that the alleged ties to Israel were a serious matter that should not be politicised by both sides.

He said that a national security issue has been turned into a question of who was closer to Israel.

“This is a universal issue, it is not just about the Malays, but I’m worried that this is just going to be another political game,” said Agus.

“I am disappointed, the government should be able to handle such criticisms, but at the same time the opposition, too, must be serious in raising the matter,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

BN has denied all links with Israel and has referred Anwar to the Parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee to answer for his allegations.

The police have also banned a company said to employ former Israeli military officers to work on its computerisation upgrading programme. They have also promised to investigate Anwar’s claims.