The Foreign Ministry has clarified that the participation of an Israeli delegation in a United Nations programme in Kuala Lumpur this week was not its call.

"(It) was based on an invitation issued by the United Nations, through its agency the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the convenor of the 9th World Urban Forum (WUF9)," said Foreign Minister Anifah Aman in a statement today.

He also slammed what he believes to be attempts by "some irresponsible parties" to gain political mileage out of Israel's participation in the programme.

Anifah explained that the invitation to Israel which was signed by the executive director of UN-Habitat was in accordance to the Host Country Agreement signed between the particular organisation and Malaysia.

Article Three of the agreement states that participation in the forum shall be open, among others, to all the member states of the United Nations and any of its specialised agencies, he said.

"Signing the Host Country Agreement is a requirement for any UN conference to be held away from any of the UN’s established headquarters.

"It needs to be emphasised that unlike the other letters of invitation, the letter of invitation to Israel was not signed by any Malaysian official."

Position on Israel unchanged

As such, Anifah said the issue of Malaysia tacitly establishing links with Israel through the hosting of the forum does not arise.

"Our position on Israel remains unchanged. To imply otherwise is an indication of malicious and malignant intent," he stressed.

Reasoning that the event was "widely acknowledged to have been a success", with the participation of more than 25,000 people, with 69 countries being represented at the ministerial level, Anifah said all Malaysians should be proud of the country’s successful hosting of the programme.

The visit by the delegation of Israeli diplomats to Malaysia had marked the first of its kind.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry had said that Israel's former deputy ambassador to UN David Roet who led the delegation had entered Malaysia with an Israeli diplomatic passport, participated in the conference with other Israeli representatives and also met Malaysian officials.

Several quarters had questioned the government over the matter, with a group of NGOs saying that the solidarity rally with Palestine had only proven to be mere empty rhetoric.