Do not worry, Israel – Malaysia is not going to war with you
Unless there is a UN mandate.
On 9 December 2017, in reaction to the recognition of Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel by US President Donald J Trump, the Malaysian Defense Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein shock the world by claiming that the Malaysian military is ready to set out to Jerusalem as soon as the order is received from the Malaysian King.
Further reading: Malaysian military ready to roll out to Jerusalem, Hishammuddin says
The statement is not taken kindly by the Israeli public and had publicly expressed surprise by the aggressive statement. However, with the lack of context, it does indeed sound like a provocative announcement.
When we put domestic politics into context, as well as where the statement is made, toward what audience – things starts to make a lot more sense.
Hishammuddin is the vice-president of UMNO, the majority party of the ruling coalition, Barisan National (BN). The Malaysian General Election is due in 2018, and UMNO politicians had been ramping up the rhetoric and chest thumping statements in recent months…. just like every single election cycle for decades.
The statement was made as a closing statement to party members at the 71st UMNO General Assembly. As far as we can tell, it is more like a passing statement to create a “feel good factor” ahead of the coming election.
ISRAEL-MALAYSIA RELATIONS
Malaysia is a Muslim majority country in South East Asia, and they do not have official diplomatic relations with Israel. Under pressure from domestic radical-Islamic oppositions and pressure by Arab states, coupled with mass hysteria from the entire Muslim world against Israel – made it politically impossible for Malaysia to develop any form of official relations with the Jewish state, despite Israel being one of the countries that voted in favour of Malaya (former name before the creation of the federation with Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah) to be admitted into the United Nations.
So no, Malaysia is not planning nor going to send their military to Jerusalem (especially not without any United Nations mandate) and they are no threat against Israel militarily.
Just sleep it away. It’s a non-issue.