PM stands by criticism of Israel

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has stood by his strong criticism of Israel in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

He said he was giving a truthful assessment of the Middle East problem.

“If you are going to be truthful, the problem in the Middle East began with the creation of the state of Israel, that is the whole truth,” he said in BBC’s HARDtalk programme.

Dr Mahathir brushed aside comments in the Israeli media calling him an anti-Semite.

He said the term was frequently used against critics of Israeli policies.

“There are many races in this world. I have said nasty things about them but they never accused me of being anti-this or anti-that.

“But the Israelis are special. You cannot even mention that in the Holocaust, it was not six million (Jews who died).”

Dr Mahathir was asked about criticism in the Israeli media, which quoted his 1970 book The Malay Dilemma, in which he described the Jews as “hook-nosed”.

To this, he replied: “Well, lots of people say nasty things about us, ‘Malays lazy’ and all kinds of things. That is an opinion and I gave them my opinion on things.”

Well, lots of people say nasty things about us, ‘Malays lazy’ and all kinds of things. That is an opinion and I gave them my opinion on things.