Police have confirmed the arrest of a 36-year-old man to assist in the investigation regarding his statement suspected to support the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and Israel.

Bukit Aman’s CID director Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the man is suspected of making the statement during an online interview with an Israeli social media influencer named Hananya Naftali, which was uploaded on a local media portal's TikTok.

According to him, the man has been placed under remand for three days starting today until Friday.

"The investigation into this case is being carried out by the CID's Classified Criminal Investigation Unit, Law/Prosecution Division (D5) under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948, Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998," he said in a statement tonight.

Shuhaily added that as the case is still under investigation, he advised the public not to make any comments or speculations about it.

Bukit Aman’s CID director Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain

"The police remind the public to be wise users of social media and not to misuse these applications for purposes that violate the law," he said.

Recently, a video went viral showing a man believed to be a Malaysian citizen engaging in an online interview with Naftali.

He was alleged to have said that Malaysia should have diplomatic relations with Israel and requested the opening of the Israeli embassy in the country.

- Bernama