Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is seen at an Oct. 23 pro-Hamas rally in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Reuters/Mat Zain

Malaysia’s prime minister announced on Wednesday that cargo ships operated by Israel’s ZIM shipping company were banned from docking at the southeast Asian country’s ports.

“The Malaysian government decided to block and disallow the Israeli-based shipping company ZIM from docking at any Malaysian port,” Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in a statement. He also clarified that the ban applied to any ship traveling under the Israeli flag.

Ibrahim added that any ships bound for Israel from Malaysia would be prevented from loading their cargoes.

“These sanctions are a response to Israel’s actions that ignore basic humanitarian principles and violate international law through the ongoing massacre and atrocities against Palestinians,” Ibrahim emphasized.

A Muslim country, Malaysia has no diplomatic relations or trading links with Israel. However, ZIM ships were given permission to dock in Malaysia in 2002, a decision that was rescinded on Wednesday.

Malaysian politicians are no strangers to antisemitic outbursts. The country’s former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, now 98-years-old, has said that he is proud to be called an antisemite. “How can I be otherwise, when the Jews who so often talk of the horrors they suffered during the Holocaust show the same Nazi cruelty and hardheartedness towards not just their enemies but even towards their allies should any try to stop the senseless killing of their Palestinian enemies,” he stated during a 2012 speech.

His rival and successor Ibrahim, who was appointed as prime minister in Nov. 2022, has made similar comments in the past, including the accusation that the Malaysian government was controlled by agents of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service. Since the Hamas pogrom in southern Israel on Oct. 7, Ibrahim has doubled down on his rhetoric targeting the Jewish state.

“Palestine is colonized through apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and now genocide,” Ibrahim told Malaysian lawmakers last month. In a reference to the Hamas atrocities, he added: “Whatever happened is the legitimate right and struggle of the Palestinian people.”

One academic specializing in Malaysian affairs at the time assessed Ibrahim’s speech in terms of his broader political strategy.

“Anwar has basically used the Palestine issue to try to shore up his Islamist credentials,” Bridget Welsh, an honorary research associate with the University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute Malaysia, told the Japan Times following the speech. “It’s interesting to see how many pages he’s taking from Mahathir’s playbook in his first year in office, one of which is making this issue about him fighting for Palestine.”

Antisemitic sentiments are widespread among Malaysia’s largely Muslim population. According to research conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), 66 percent of Malaysians believe Jews are more loyal to Israel than the countries in which they reside, while 64 percent think that Jews exercise “too much control” over the US government.