It is a tragic phenomenon of contemporary Malaysian politics that a leader, especially a member of the opposition, cannot open his or her mouth without those words being pounced upon and twisted out of all recognition.

It is also a sad reflection of the irrationality of much political dialogue that the issue of Israel in particular is inevitably devalued by overly emotional responses.

The comment by the redoubtable Dr Mahathir Mohamad is typically devious and malicious: he claims that Anwar Ibrahim supports the actions of Israel, when Anwar said nothing of the sort.

In fact, Anwar has repeatedly condemned Israel's brutal treatment of the Palestinians and its twisted diplomacy.

What Anwar did say was that Israel's security has to be ensured. Many decent people around the world are outraged by Israel's behaviour, and feel that the way it was initially created was very unethical, the existence of Israel is, as they say, a "fact on the ground".

Even Palestinian leaders, including Hamas, acknowledge this, behind the scenes if not in front of crowds of their supporters.

It is of course true that Israel's own bad behaviour is a major cause of it being surrounded by hostile neighbours, but since Israel consistently uses this fact to justify its aggression, strategically it is necessary to remove this excuse by taking steps to ensure its security.

This assurance, therefore, has to be factored into any serious and realistic proposal for a settlement of the Palestinian problem. And this is the only way the Palestinians will ever have a hope of finally enjoying a peaceful, stable and prosperous future.

Mahathir also never misses a chance to attack Anwar for "having many Jewish friends". This is Hitler-thinking - that if you are Jewish, you are essentially evil. Having witnessed the shocking and horrific deeds that such simplistic attitudes give rise to, the rest of the world has long rejected it.