Malaysia a target for Israeli spies over Gaza stance, Anwar warns
Prime minister points to recent gun smuggling case as evidence of Israel’s Mossad among intelligence agencies operating in Malaysia
Malaysia is being targeted by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency over its support for the Palestinian cause, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has claimed, vowing to boost his country’s own surveillance and security against potential infiltrators.
The Muslim-majority nation has been the leading Southeast Asian voice accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, where the enclave’s health ministry says at least 59,000 people have been killed, with the toll spiking daily as they are gunned down queuing for food.
Malaysia has also called for Israel’s expulsion from the United Nations for what it says were numerous war crimes and persistent violations of international law against Palestinians, as well as genocide.
Anwar on Tuesday said international intelligence agencies, particularly Mossad, were operating in the country, pointing to a recent gun smuggling case that involved a local couple who were believed to have worked for an alleged Israeli agent.
Israeli national Shalom Avitan was sentenced to seven years’ jail in February on charges of possessing six unlicensed guns and a cache of bullets. The 39-year-old is the first Israeli to be charged and jailed in Malaysia.
Israeli media identified Avitan as a mobster linked with the Israel-based Musli crime family. He had told police that he was on the hunt for the leader of a rival gang who had purportedly taken up residence in Malaysia.
According to Anwar, however, Avitan is believed to be a Mossad agent, adding that Malaysia’s support for Palestinians and links with Hamas – which security analysts have said it allegedly hosts in its capital city – have made it a target of Israel’s intelligence agency.
“They are very sophisticated and quick,” Anwar told parliament, referring to Mossad’s alleged agents.
“Many have managed to escape from the country before they could be identified,” he said, adding “because of our voice or our stance, we have become a stage for the smuggling of arms, drugs and in this case, Mossad agents”.
His comments came during Prime Minister’s Question Time, where he was asked what measures had been taken to stop alleged Mossad infiltration.
Anwar has openly maintained close ties with leaders of Hamas’ political wing, having met its leader Ismail Haniyeh and former chairman Khaled Mashal during a state visit to Qatar in May last year. Malaysia does not recognise Israel diplomatically.
In October, the Malaysian leader condemned Israel’s killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar – the mastermind behind the deadly October 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel that triggered the latest war on Gaza – accusing the international community of failing to “uphold and ensure peace and justice”.
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About 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack, which has been described as the deadliest attack in Israeli history.
Mossad – which rarely confirms its operations but has built a reputation for assassinations and kidnappings of perceived state enemies of Israel – has been accused of involvement in at least two incidents in Malaysia targeting Palestinians over the last decade.
In 2018, two Mossad operatives allegedly gunned down purported Hamas member Fadi al-Batsh, a Palestinian engineer and academic in Kuala Lumpur.
Israel denied the claim. The attackers were believed to have left the country shortly after the hit.
Four years later, Malaysia charged 13 individuals with kidnapping a Palestinian man, also in Kuala Lumpur, on suspicion of trying to secure software to hack mobile phones. Malaysian authorities did not discount possible Mossad involvement.
Mossad was also accused of setting up an operation centre in Malaysia to launch the notorious Stuxnet virus in 2010, which ruined a fifth of Iran’s nuclear centrifuges in a bid to cripple the republic’s nuclear programme.
