“Malaysia is not anti-Jew or anti-Semitic. The Arabs are also Semitic people. But we reserve the right to condemn inhuman and oppressive behaviour anywhere, by anyone,” Dr Mahathir Mohamad said in a blog post this evening.

Mahathir, who once declared that he was proud to be labelled anti-Semitic, said that Malaysia had condemned Myanmar in the past over their treatment of the Rohingya, and it has criticised “many countries and people for inhuman acts”.

“Many people and many countries have condemned us. But we have not been labelled nor have we labelled people who speak as a matter of right in a free world.”

Earlier today, Mahathir again defended Putrajaya’s ban on Israeli athletes taking part in sporting events in Malaysia, saying his stand on the Palestinian conflict has not changed despite once allowing Israeli sportsmen into Malaysia two decades ago.

He was asked why his administration had in 1997 allowed the Israeli cricket team to participate in an international tournament in Kuala Lumpur.

Mahathir said he had then allowed the Israelis to enter Malaysia to show that Muslims were not terrorists.

Yesterday, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced that it would not allow Malaysia to host the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships to be held in Kuching in July.

This followed Israel’s appeal to change the venue if Malaysia refused to lift the ban on its athletes.

Putrajaya’s decision to ban the athletes led to Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon condemning the country.

He said the decision was inspired by Mahathir’s “rabid anti-Semitism”.