Israel–Malaysia relations
Israel–Malaysia relations refers to the commercial and cultural ties between Israel and Malaysia. The two countries currently maintain no formal diplomatic relations (). While Malaysia officially maintains an outwardly hostile position towards Israel, commercial relations between the two countries do exist , albeit very limited. Malaysian passports bear the inscription: "This passport is valid for all countries except Israel". Israeli passport holders are forbidden to enter Malaysia without written permission from the Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs. The recognition of Israel is a politically delicate issue for the Malaysian government. History Federation of Malaya The first political contact between Malaysia and Israel was made when the Israeli foreign minister Moshe Sharett visited Kuala Lumpur in 1956, the year prior to the independence of the Federation of Malaya. He described the reception of his proposal to appoint an Israeli consul in Kuala Lumpur as "favourable without hesitation" on the part of his official host, Tunku Abdul Rahman. On 26 August 1957, Israel prime minister David Ben-Gurion sent a congratulatory letter to Tunku telling him that Israel was ready to set up an "appropriate representation" in Kuala Lumpur. When Malaya's bid for membership in the United Nations came up in 1957, Israel voted in support of Malaya's acceptance. On 23 December 1957, a Malayan UN delegate told a member of Israeli delegation that Malaya recognised Israel but had no intention to establish formal diplomatic ties, despite the signs of mutual friendly conversation with fellow Israeli diplomats and friends. Later in November 1959, Tunku told an Israeli envoy that he could not establish any diplomatic ties because Muslims in Malaya strongly opposed such a relationship with Israel. In 1961, Tunku also mentioned that he was pressured by Middle East countries, especially Egypt, not to develop diplomatic relationships with Israel. Federation of Malaysia The formation of Malaysia in 1963 had caused strong opposition by Indonesia. Indonesia accused Malaysia that the country was adopting the neocolonialism principle with British support. This led to Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation from 1963 to 1966. To improve its image, Malaysia decided to appeal to the Muslim countries in the Middle East by branding itself as a Muslim country while condemning Israel. In March 1963, an Israeli company named Astraco was allowed to open a branch named "Interasia" in Kuala Lumpur. However, in 1964, the company decided to move its operations to Singapore due to commercial considerations. Despite this, Israel foreign ministry decided to send an official from its ministry to the company in order to maintain the only Israeli presence in Malaysia. Moshe Yegar was appointed for this mission from November 1964, outwardly, as head of the Israeli commercial concern, but the real intention was to establish diplomatic ties with Malaysia. However, in January 1966, Moshe was quietly expelled from Kuala Lumpur due to domestic political pressure and foreign pressures from Muslim countries. By 1965, Malaysia became increasingly isolated from Israel. It refused to grant any entry permits for Israel diplomats, and took part in anti-Israeli activities in the United Nations.