Now, he criticises his old friends for backing Israel’s assault on Gaza – even risking being seen as a Hamas apologist after the group’s deadly October 7 attack that sparked the war.
His stance has strained ties between Malaysia and the US, a key trade and investment partner. But analysts say it reflects Anwar’s long-standing personal support for Palestine, which took root during his days as a student activist in the 1970s.
Malaysia’s diplomatic campaign to shame Western capitals into reining in their Israeli ally has now hit a ceiling, however, and Anwar says only the US wields sufficient clout to tell Israel to stop the war.
“The atrocities continue. We have done the maximum of what a small country can do.”
From the outset, Malaysia has made clear its opposition to a conflict that has claimed more than 37,000 lives so far, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry, and displaced over 2 million Palestinians.
Israel has vowed no let up on its assault until it wipes out the group responsible for killing around 1,200 people on October 7 and taking some 250 others hostage.
Anwar and his administration have accused Israel of genocide. In December it banned Israeli shipping giant Zim and any ship bearing the Israeli flag from docking and unloading cargo at Malaysian ports.
Malaysia is among the handful of countries that refuse to formally recognise Israel, although the Southeast Asian nation has conducted limited trade with the Middle Eastern power.
The Malaysian public has donated generously to Palestinian causes and embraced boycotts against US coffee chain Starbucks and fast food giants McDonald’s and KFC, hitting the bottom line of companies accused of having ties with Israel.
KFC has closed dozens of branches, Starbucks has slashed its headcount and franchise owners have attempted to distance their local businesses from the corporate boardrooms in the US.
With a national mood that is defiantly pro-Palestine, Anwar has marshalled the outrage.
While in Germany in March, he embarrassed his host Chancellor Olaf Scholz when he rebuked the country and the West for their vocal support of Israel’s Gaza offensive, saying they had turned a blind eye to decades of “atrocities, plunder and dispossession of Palestinians”.
His open criticism of Western leaders has drawn broad support, not just in Muslim countries but also in the US and Europe, where students and civil society movements have held regular mass rallies demanding Israel end its assault and calling for boycotts of mostly US firms that supply weapons to the Israeli military.
Political and personal
Anwar’s ties to Palestine long predate his tenure as Malaysia’s prime minister.
As a founding leader of the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (ABIM), he championed the Palestinian cause at public rallies during the group’s heyday, helping elevate it to a national priority for Malaysians, especially the Malay-Muslim majority.
In 1983, Anwar represented Malaysia at the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) summit in Algiers, where then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat declared him a “son of Palestine” in honour of his support for their struggle.
“Understanding his background in ABIM, he has always been wholeheartedly on the Palestinian side,” said Syaza Farhana Mohamad Shukri, head of the political-science department at the International Islamic University of Malaysia. “So this is not for [domestic] political purposes per se.”
But having principled positions also offers political benefits for Anwar, who rose to power after the fractious 2022 national election despite a support deficit among the country’s Malays.
His pursuit of justice for Palestine on the international stage has helped burnish his image as a strong Malay-Muslim leader at home, somewhat blunting the advance of a formidable Malay-nationalist opposition that has his multiracial administration in its sights.
But Azmi Hassan, a fellow at Malaysia’s National Council of Professors, said the domestic political payoff would be limited, since most Malaysians expect their prime ministers to speak out for Palestine regardless.
The more consequential benefit, he said, is the unique window Anwar’s close ties with the leaders of Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank could provide to help end the conflict.
“Malaysia supports [US President Joe] Biden’s three-phase [ceasefire] plan, but Hamas has not been clear whether it wants to support it or not. Malaysia can play a role to convince Hamas that this is good for Gaza,” Azmi said.
“This is possible because of Prime Minister Anwar’s close relations with Hamas, which not many Arab countries have.”
A United Nations investigation concluded on Wednesday that Israel had committed crimes against humanity in Gaza, including “extermination”, and war crimes spanning sexual violence, using starvation as a tool war, and intentionally targeting civilians. The UN Commission of Inquiry also found that Hamas had committed war crimes and other abuses in its October 7 attack, including the desecration of corpses, subjecting women to gender-based violence and targeting children for abduction.
A day earlier, the UN Security Council voted overwhelmingly in favour of a US-sponsored ceasefire resolution, with Washington saying that Hamas must accept the terms of the deal to ensure an immediate end to the violence.
The militant group had initially expressed willingness to reach a deal, before reportedly responding with a list of proposed amendments including the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday that in Washington’s view, “the time for haggling is over”.
Israel, which has not relented in its months-long assault on Gaza despite the ceasefire talks, characterised Hamas’ response as tantamount to a rejection of the deal.
The colonisation of the last 70 years … the killing and dispossession of people’s land, has been continuing long before Hamas was born
Anwar rejects the notion that Hamas alone is responsible for the conflict, calling such claims “absurd”. He notes that Palestinians have endured decades of occupation, dating to 1948 when Zionist forces seized much of the territory surrounding Gaza and the West Bank and declared Israel’s independence.
“The colonisation of the last 70 years, the escalation [of violence] … in the West Bank, the killing and dispossession of people’s land, has been continuing long before Hamas was born,” he said.
“Why do you erase that part of history, [of what happened] pre-October 7 and post- October 7? That has been my contention.”
Malaysia’s ties to Hamas are long-standing, with past prime ministers having hosted leaders of the group, which security analysts claim also maintains an “unofficial embassy” in the country through the Palestinian Cultural Organisation Malaysia.
Hamas first rose to prominence in the late 1980s during the first Intifada – Arabic for uprising – after rejecting the Oslo Accords peace plan with the PLO, choosing instead to pursue a Palestinian state to replace Israel.
In 1997, the US State Department designated Hamas a terrorist organisation after the group carried out a series of deadly suicide bombings in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem that killed more than 20 people and injured hundreds more.
Despite US pressure, Malaysia has resisted labelling Hamas a terrorist group. Anwar revealed at a pro-Palestine rally in October that Washington had made three formal requests for Malaysia to reverse its position on the designation.
The Malaysian prime minister courted further controversy when he held a public meeting with Hamas leaders during an official visit to Qatar last month, a move that analysts have warned could trigger deeper US scrutiny of Malaysia’s financial ties with the group and potentially lead to sanctions.
The meeting took place just a week after officials from the US Treasury Department had travelled to Kuala Lumpur to raise concerns that Hamas was using Malaysia as a base for fundraising, highlighting a “concerning uptick” in attempts by Iran and its proxies to raise funds in Southeast Asia.
Anwar argued that the West’s current narrative on Hamas echoes how Nelson Mandela and the Irish Republican Army were previously vilified as terrorists, despite both later achieving mainstream legitimacy: Mandela becoming South Africa’s first post-apartheid president, and the IRA forming a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland through its political wing after laying down arms.
“Do I then believe that any group should condone the killing of children? No, I don’t. But remember … Mandela was a terrorist, until the world took a position that ‘OK, he’s a freedom fighter’, and [he was] considered a great hero and darling,” he said of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, who was jailed in 1962 for 27 years for conspiring to overthrow the state.
“So don’t be deluded by this constant, incessant propaganda from the Western media.”
Anwar said that he does not interact with Hamas’ militant arm, but described the group as “freedom fighters” and said he has been in communication with its political wing “for the last many years”.
He said he had held “very frank” discussions about the war with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, whose children and grandchildren were killed by an Israeli air strike during the recent Eid celebration.
“I said, look, I represent a view that you would want an amicable resolution, immediate peace, and the return of the hostages, of course in exchange for peace and the return of thousands of political prisoners in Israel,” Anwar said, surrounded by dozens of books on philosophy and religion in his office library from his own personal collection.
“But the first condition is stop the bombing, but Israel has refused. Why can’t you now focus on [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and Israel?”
Anwar said Biden’s move to sponsor the recent ceasefire resolution was a “relatively bold step”, but ultimately fell short of meeting the long-held demands of the Palestinians.
He conceded that the world’s Muslim countries had yet to unite as a cohesive force to champion Palestine’s cause.
But he said a consensus exists among disparate groups representing Muslim nations – such as the Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Conference – on demands for an immediate ceasefire; the return of hostages taken by Hamas and Palestinian political detainees in Israel; and respecting and pursuing a permanent two-state solution. These proposals had been received by Hamas, Anwar said.
“But of course this is contingent on the Israelis accepting that they should not continue with the bombing and killings,” he said.
“How can you say, ‘we want peace, we agree with you’, but you continue to kill people? You can’t do that … The intention is clear.”
Anwar remains hopeful for a two-state solution, driven by “the wisdom of people” seeking truth and justice, he said. However, he acknowledged that it will not be easy to bring different groups together to agree, drawing from his experience taking office after a deeply divided national election. That vote saw a conservative shift among the country’s Malay majority, who make up nearly 60 per cent of the 33 million population and backed a formidable nationalist minority bloc in parliament.
This trend mirrors developments worldwide, from the revival of fascism in Europe to the rise of extreme right-wing movements in the US, he said.
“I am realistic enough to accept the fact that issues dealing with the race card and religious bigotry is not an easy issue to contend with … but it requires not only tenacity but also wisdom in dealing with the issue,” Anwar said.
He has had to make some tough, unpopular decisions during the past 18 months as Malaysia’s prime minister, including slashing subsidies to manage 1.5 trillion ringgit (US$318 billion) in debt inherited from previous administrations. He also launched a high-profile corruption crackdown, implicating the family, allies and supporters of his political rival, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Despite these challenges, Anwar believes the fiscal reforms implemented by his multiracial government – including targeted aid for the poor – have started to turn the conservative tide among Malaysia’s Malay majority. He expressed cautious optimism this momentum will continue through the end of his term in 2028.
His family and associates have long noted his unyielding optimism, a trait tempered by nearly a decade in prison on corruption and sodomy charges that he and supporters say were politically motivated. Anwar said his time in solitary confinement allowed him to deepen his belief that empathy, fairness and integrity are vital for Malaysia – and humanity – to thrive.
“It stems from my belief that as human beings, there must be humanity, there must be human values, there must be compassion and justice,” he said.
