Deputy Foreign Minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican said as a nation which adhered to the Charter of the United Nations (UN), Malaysia must respect the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on the status of Jerusalem.

Last December, the UN declared a United States resolution recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as invalid and void after a vote that saw 128 countries, including Malaysia, rejecting the American stand and nine countries supporting it.

“If we (Malaysia) take the same action (opening an embassy without determining the status of Jerusalem) like the United States, it would send a signal that Malaysia agrees to, or legitimises the action of the United States, which was criticised by the majority of the international community.

“This will also affect the process of the two-state solution between Palestine and Israel.”

He said this in response to a supplementary question by Kamarudin Jaffar (PKR-Tumpat), who wanted to know why Malaysia did not have any representation in Jerusalem, in line with its commitment to fight for Palestinian rights, at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today.

However, Reezal stressed that a lack of a representative office in Jerusalem did not mean Malaysia had no direct ties with Palestine.

He said Malaysia was among the countries which played a key role in supporting Palestine at the UN, and sponsored the country to be accepted as an observer in the United Nations in 2012.

Malaysia, he said, was also committed as a sponsor of the resolution to ensure that the Palestinian flag was raised in 2015, as well as the sponsor of resolution 2334, which condemned Israel’s “illegal settlement” in Jerusalem in 2016.

“That resolution (2334) can be considered strong enough to defend Palestinian rights. There had never been any resolution for 36 years and it was by Malaysia,” he said.