VIENNA, Austria — Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad defends Malaysia’s ban on Israeli athletes, likening it to US President Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall along the US-Mexico border.
Malaysia sparked a row with Israel after saying it would not allow Israeli swimmers to compete in a tournament later this year that serves as a qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
“Every country has the right to accept or refuse entry of anybody,” Mahathir tells a press conference in Vienna.
“You can see that in America now they are erecting a very high wall to prevent Mexicans from going to America,” he says.
“We have the same idea, that people who are undesirable for our country will be kept out of our country,” Mahathir adds.
Last week Israel said the decision was motivated by “rabid anti-Semitism” on Mahathir’s part.
Mahathir, now 93 and in his second stint as premier, has in the past attracted criticism for attacks on Jews.
— AFP
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