So what if Najib shook hands with Israel’s PM?

There are more than enough real issues to deal with in this country.

By Bob Ramli

Pro-Opposition and pro-Mahathir news portals and blogs recently lashed out at Prime Minister Najib Razak for allegedly meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the recent United Nations General Assembly. Najib vehemently denied that a meeting ever took place, saying he only shook hands with Netanyahu as they crossed paths. Some Israeli portals allegedly spoke well about Najib and keyboard warriors in Malaysia are having a field day.

What is so wrong with Najib shaking hands with a fellow attendee at the UN session, especially when they found themselves face to face? As the Prime Minister of his country and an international figure, he has to conduct himself professionally on the global platform. If such a simple gesture can be interpreted as being pro-Israeli, then you would, for instance, have to label DAP as anti-Islam for its failure to condemn Beijing for persecuting Muslims in China.

For the last couple of years China has prohibited civil servants, teachers and students in Xinjiang from fasting in Ramadan. Recently, Chinese Ambassador Huang Huikang visited Petaling Street and mingled with the traders there in a friendly manner. Why did DAP not condemn and question Huang on Beijing’s ban on fasting? Extrapolating from the allegation that Najib is pro-Israel, then DAP has to be anti-Islam.

But is that so? Obviously not. We know that the Chinese in Malaysia are not anti-Islam. Therefore, professional conduct with another person need not be interpreted as anything beyond the superficial.

The United States is perhaps Israel’s largest trading partner. Furthermore, it has been postulated that the US government has given about US$121 billion to Israel since World War 2 and that a huge chunk of this is channelled towards military technology development. President Barack Obama not long ago even announced an additional funding of US$225 million for Israel to improve a home-grown Iron Dome missile interceptor. Besides that, the US is the biggest exporter of military supplies to Israel.

Considering all that, shouldn’t Malaysia boycott the US? That means no more Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Google, i-Phones, Macs, Intels and Hollywood. Lets all get back to living in trees.

Pro-Mahathir blogs have been suffocating for ideas and hence decided to spin the hand-shake story.

Mahathir wants us to believe that he is anti-Jew, but he apparently had a close relationship with Israel. According to an online paper available at the Institute of Jewish Affairs website, in 1996 the Israeli Port Authority sponsored an international conference and a 16-member delegation from Malaysia attended with government approval and funding. Also, numerous discussions took place between the Israeli and Malaysian governments in the 1990s towards improving trade relations. So what is Mahathir barking for now?

Towards the end of his tenure as prime minister, Mahathir constantly blamed George Soros for the 1997-98 economic crisis and many other issues. However, in 2006, he made public appearances with the Jewish tycoon and went on to claim that they were friends.

When Najib shook hands with Netanyahu, it was definitely out of his concern to project professionalism as the chief executive of his country. People should stop making an issue of it. There are more than enough real issues to deal with in this country.

Bob Ramli is an FMT reader