ISRAEL recently insisted it wants to build international relations with Malaysia, and Israeli political parties Likud, Yamina and left-wing Yesh Atid all think it is a wonderful idea as well.

Malaysians of all races are fair-minded and level-headed like the Emiratis, and we do not hate Jews. But it is the Israelis who have spurned, harmed and injured Malaysians, not the other way round.

There are millions of Malaysian Christians whose faith is rooted in the Jewish culture of the Bible. Israeli civilians often receive visits and humanitarian help from Malaysian Christians. Malaysia is obviously not an enemy.

Rather, an Israeli Jewish scam has stolen nearly a quarter million ringgit from Malaysians from June 2020 to July 2021. The Lev LaLev organisation pretended to be an orphanage for disadvantaged Jewish youth and victims of terror. It has managed to swindle innocent Malaysians of their life savings, and the Israeli Embassy in Singapore has chosen to ignore the victims.

Such recalcitrance and intransigence cast plenty of doubt on claims by embassy officials in the past couple of years that it is peace and justice that the State of Israel wants, not war and acrimony. This embassy has told Malaysians that Israel is open, just, welcoming and friendly, and that Jewish representatives are nearby and easy to reach.

The eventual silence resorted to by Israeli officials and major Jewish community authorities from December 2021 to June 2022 has revealed the holes in these Jewish promises. The commitment of Israel to tackle international crime is at best nil, especially whenever the criminals are Jewish persons.

Lev LaLev’s Chavi Weiss and accomplices are safety sheltered in Israel, having committed fraud and cybercrime, as well as misrepresentation, false advertising and deceit. Weiss had reached out in 2020 with claims of wanting to build and name a pet centre for orphaned girls as a tribute to a dead Malaysian.

Weiss faked a Lev LaLev Israel Girls Orphanage by filming and photographing a different orphanage. The Donald Berman House of Hope at Bene Yissakhar Street in Netanya, west Israel, was used in this way. Presently, in order to save Israel from national disgrace, the Lev LaLev Jews have forced the House of Hope to join in and cover up the scam. Signage is being placed at a makeshift animal shack as a temporary solution to fool members of the international press.

The audacity of it all is tremendous. Malaysians understand now what it means to have been deceived by the Jewish people. It is a very inhumane case of using the dead to swindle the living out of their life savings. The Israeli Embassy, World Zionist Organization, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Amcha Initiative Jewish rights group have all handled the case and subsequently abandoned it.

This immense betrayal dealt against Malaysians has revealed the corrupt practices rampant in Israel despite the goodwill and friendship that come from Malaysians. Israel will not prosecute crimes committed within its borders, as long as those crimes affect only foreign nationals.

Such injustice reflects a problem greater than the issue of whether Palestine is a province or a country. Israel simply cannot claim the moral high ground when it continues to let Jews in Israel steal money online. In the past nine years, Jewish fraud in financial trading and bogus charity programmes took countless victims into poverty and bankruptcy, and Israel police hide the perpetrators’ names from the general public.

Israeli transparency and accountability are absent, and yet Israel claims the world is antisemitic (anti-Jewish). We cannot speak for individual attitudes, but the Malaysian people have proven themselves good and benign, and no Malaysian administration supports terrorism. Malaysia is obviously not antisemitic at all. Rather it is Israel that has permitted Jews to undertake unlawful activity without fear of punishment.

How many more Malaysians will end up being conned by Jewish businesspeople if Malaysia allows an Embassy of Israel to open here? Will Malaysian factories, producers and exports be safe from deceit and malpractice, and will the government of Israel take action against Jewish criminals? These questions are adequately answered by the Lev LaLev scam, ensuing cover-ups, and the abandonment of the case by Jewish groups and Israeli law enforcement.

Israel has therefore no reason to say it is terrified of Malaysia. Rather Malaysia is terrified of Israel. The theft of about a quarter million ringgit signifies the stealing not just of money, but of Malaysian labour, sweat and toil. What would happen if bigger amounts were involved? Malaysians have never disqualified Israel’s hopes for an embassy. Instead Israel disqualifies itself by being inhumane, unjust and arrogant. Its refusal to be good to those who have been good to it shows that it does not want to be a faithful and genuine friend.

Lev LaLev stole a significant sum, but the future could be worse. As the amounts get larger, the stakes get higher. Hundreds of millions of ringgit can be lost in an instant, and Malaysians will suffer and go hungry. Your savings and investments will not have any protection because Israel’s embassies, consulates and government will do nothing to secure you. Fraudsters will gain Israeli protection because they are Jewish and you are Malaysian.

Israel has tried to cultivate hatred by stomping on victims and then blames the victims for speaking out. But Malaysia isn’t stupid, and Israel has not succeeded in putting hate into our hearts. On the other hand, the Lev LaLev case and the Israeli response demonstrate how Jews hate Malaysians. Malaysia is bullied by Israel, and the international community now possesses ample proof of this.

Israel whines about having no embassy here, but such complaints are hollow. Trustworthiness has to happen first, not the convenience of an embassy.

Israel and the Jewish people must stop blaming Malaysia for being slow to believe in Israel. We are not the problem. Almost all Malaysians contribute to the Jewish nation in some way. In return, the Jews have supplied only animosity and ill will, and malign us constantly. Such racism must stop. It is grossly unfair. – June 27, 2022.

* Victor Y.J. Ong is author of the novel Daughter of Palestine.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.