JERUSALEM - Israel today condemned "anti-Semitic" remarks by Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad at a summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) which he is hosting in the administrative capital of Putrajaya.

"Israel reacts with disgust to these anti-Semitic remarks which are an insult to the victims of the Shoah", or Nazi genocide against the Jews during World War II, an Israeli foreign ministry official told AFP .

"We hope that all enlightened countries in the world concerned with peace and democracy will protest against these heinous declarations," Levy Neno said.

Another foreign ministry official, Nimrod Barkan told army radio that Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom would "launch a worldwide campaign against such remarks" but did not elaborate.

Shoham said: "We think that these are the kinds of expressions that should be wiped out from the vocabulary of leaders or politicians speaking before any forum.

"There is no place in the civilized world for such expressions," he said.

'Stop him'

Meanwhile, the head of a Jewish human rights organisation said yesterday that the enlightened world should silence Mahathir for his deliberately anti-Semitic remarks.

"This man is an anti-Semite and he doesn't hide it," said Efraim Zuroff, director of the office in Israel of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which pursues Nazi war criminals.

"It is time that the democratic, enlightened, liberal world mobilizes to stop him from continuing to openly call for the hatred of Jews.

"The problem is (Mahathir) knows he can freely say these things and no one will stop him. His remarks were made at the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit as if they were perfectly normal and acceptable," Zuroff added.

"I am sorry to have to note that for the Islamic delegates gathering in Putrajaya, who represent 20 percent of humanity, anti-Judaism is legitimate. It is one of the bases for Islamic terrorism," he said.

Earlier yesterday, Mahathir accused Jews of ruling the world by proxy, saying "they get others to fight and die for them."

He urged Muslims to emulate the Jewish response to oppression, noting that the Jews had "survived 2,000 years of pogroms not by hitting back, but by thinking."

"1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews," he added.

Confusing

Meanwhile, Israel's ambassador to Singapore also denounced "anti-Semitic" remarks by Mahathir.

"We don't remember such expressions since the days of Hitler," Ambassador Itzhak Shoham told AFP one day after the tough-talking Mahathir once again stirred a hornet's nest by alleging that Jews ruled the world by proxy.

The remarks have also been condemned by the European Union, the US government and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which pursues Nazi war criminals.

Israel has no representation in Malaysia or any other Islamic country in Southeast Asia.

Asked how he personally felt about the Malaysian leader's remarks, Ambassador Shoham said "it's quite mixed" because Mahathir also condemned terrorism. "So it's quite confusing," Shoham added.

The Israeli ambassador said that "we think that these are the kinds of expressions that should be wiped out from the vocabulary of leaders or politicians speaking before any forum.

"There is no place in the civilized world for such expressions," Shoham added. - AFP