WASHINGTON (July 22): Member of US Congress Greg Landsman and seven other Democratic congressmen sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday, calling for the suspension of the International Military Education and Training (IMET) funding to Malaysia.
This was made in response to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement back on July 15, in which he called for the deportation of Israeli citizens within Malaysia, due to the country not recognising the Israeli state, one of the US’ main allies.
“It is totally unacceptable that a head of government has publicly declared that his country will hunt down and expel citizens of our close ally based solely on their nationality. It should not be underwritten by the American taxpayer,” said Landsman.
He added that should Anwar refuse to change his mind on his deportation remarks within 15 days, the US should suspend further IMET funding to Malaysia, and Rubio should review the US’ economic relationship with Malaysia.
IMET is a programme that pays for professional military training in the US and over 100 other countries, including Malaysia. Each year, about 50 Malaysian military personnel train under IMET.
Despite Israeli passports not being accepted in Malaysia, many Israelis were still able to enter the country through dual citizenship passports; this prompted Anwar’s remarks on investigating and deporting all Israeli citizens found on Malaysian soil.