Did Israel and Malaysia’s relationships change?

Many states share the same political ideas and have very close trade relations. What is more, they are in permanent contact, dealing with each other formally. This is not the case for Israel and Malaysia. The countries do not share diplomatic relationships, at least not for the time being. The only thing that they share is an unofficial relationship. Israel and Malaysia interact with each other, quite often actually. The fact of the matter is that diplomacy is complex and very much similar to interpersonal relationships. To be more precise, it is hard to befriend others due to lack of social skills. The question now is whether the status of Israel and Malaysia’s relationships changed in any way. To find out the answer, continue reading.

Booming trade exchanges between Israel and Malaysia

For Malaysia, Israel is one of the most important trading partners. Malaysia likes to buy from Israel, having a preference for computer chips. It is estimated that trades have reached $1,000 billion. It is hard to know exactly what goods have been shipped because Malaysians are not in the habit of recording shipments. What is certain is that when walking into any store, one can discover Israeli products. The lack of diplomatic relationships has not prevented people from trading in secret. Israelis and Malaysians are more than interested in doing business. This is not a novelty, however. Commercial relationships have existed ever since 1971. As long as a low profile is maintained, there is no opposition to trade.

Can Israel citizens visit Malaysia?

This is the question that is on everyone’s lips. There is no law saying that people of Jewish origin cannot enter the country. Technically, Jewish and Israeli tourists are free to visit south-east Asia. The Israeli government has no problem with its citizens journeying to Malaysia. In reality, there are no visas for Israeli. One can obtain a Malaysia visa Bangalore, but not a visa of Israel for Malaysia. The relationships between the two countries have not changed very much in this respect. Nonetheless, it is important to highlight that Malaysia is an open and harmonious nation. They are not really anti-Semitic and they welcome anyone who is involved in international conferences, participates in sports events or similar causes that are beneficial to the state. The point is that Malaysia is not such a bad guy. There might not be any visas for Israeli now but, with time, Malaysia will change its policies.

Israeli and Malaysian officials come together

Earlier this year, on February 12, officials from Israel were present at a UN conference in Malaysia. They made use of their passports and everything went just fine. Events like this one give us hope that someday the two nations will be friends. Both classes of officials expressed hopes for good relations, which is encouraging. There is no way of knowing what the future will hold. One thing is for sure, though. Soon enough, Israel and Malaysia will be looking for peace talks.