[UPDATED] PM: Malaysia supports global efforts to seek justice for Palestinians

New Straits Times

18 hours ago

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has thrown his support behind global efforts to seek justice for Palestinians.
This comes amid reports that the United States had sent a diplomatic to cable to pressure countries into skipping a United Nations conference in New York next week on a possible two-state solution to resolve the long-running Israel-Palestine conflict.
(https://www.nst.com.my/world/world/2025/06/1229532/us-slams-un-conferenc...)
Anwar said every nation had the right to participate in the UN conference and voice its stance.
"Any country has the right to be present and to express their views, especially regarding justice for the people of Palestine and Gaza. That is our position," he told reporters today after Friday prayers at the Azzubair Ibnul Awwam Mosque in Cheras here.
The prime minister also said Malaysia would participate in the UN conference hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, which aims to lay out the parameters for a roadmap to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel's security.
Anwar however did not state who would be sent to the conference.
He also supported initiatives led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron on the matter.
"I support initiatives in this regard by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and also President Macron," he said.
The US diplomatic cable, sent to foreign governments on Tuesday, said countries that took "anti-Israel actions" following the conference would be viewed as opposing US foreign policy and could face diplomatic consequences from Washington.
The cable, which was not previously reported, runs squarely against the diplomacy of two close allies France and Saudi Arabia.
"We are urging governments not to participate in the conference, which we view as counterproductive to ongoing, life-saving efforts to end the war in Gaza and free hostages," read the US cable.
Macron has suggested that France could recognise a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territories at the conference.
French officials say they have been working to avoid a clash with the US, Israel's staunchest major ally.
"The United States opposes any steps that would unilaterally recognise a conjectural Palestinian state, which adds significant legal and political obstacles to the eventual resolution of the conflict and could coerce Israel during a war, thereby supporting its enemies," the cable read.
The US for decades backed a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians that would create a state for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza alongside Israel.
US President Donald Trump, in his first term, was relatively tepid in his approach to a two-state solution, a longtime pillar of US Middle East policy.
He has given little sign of where he stands on the issue in his second term.
However on Tuesday, the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, a long-time vocal supporter of Israel, said he did not think an independent Palestinian state remained a US foreign policy goal.