M'sia should withdraw from naval exercise over Israeli participation: Group

A group of pro-Palestine NGOs is calling on Malaysia to withdraw its participation in an upcoming naval exercise to protest Israel’s involvement in the same event.

With its military offensive in Gaza still ongoing, the group said Israel has shown nothing but blatant disregard for Palestinian lives and international law including the International Court of Justice’s order to halt the assault on Rafah.

“The world should stop treating it like it is a normal, law-abiding state if it wants Israeli criminality in Gaza and the West Bank to stop.

“We reiterate our call on the Malaysian government to immediately withdraw from the Rimpac military exercise to drive home that message,” the group said in a joint statement today.

The statement is undersigned by 15 groups such as the Malaysian chapter of the Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) movement, Muslim Care Malaysia, Malaysian Consultative Council for Islamic Organization, Palestinian Cultural Organisation Malaysia, and Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia.

They are referring to the Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2024 (Rimpac 2024) held biennially in and around Hawaii, US, and is the world’s largest maritime exercise.

The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) has been listed among Rimpac participants since 2010, but only sent its first vessels much later – the frigate KD Lekiu in 2018 and the corvette KD Lekir in 2022.

The Israeli navy began participating in Rimpac in 2018 but has yet to send a ship to join the exercise.

The upcoming Rimpac 2024 will be held from June 26 to Aug 2, involving 29 countries, 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national land forces, over 150 aircraft, and over 25,000 personnel.

In its May 21 press release, the US Pacific Fleet - which is hosting the event - said the event will integrate and prepare partner nations by training and operating together to “strengthen our collective forces and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific”.

Apart from Malaysia, the US, and Israel, other participating countries include Australia, Brunei, Chile, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the UK.

KD Lekiu departs

In a separate press release yesterday, RMN said the KD Lekiu has left its base in Lumut to participate in Rimpac 2024.

The voyage lasting nearly 100 days and covering 12,730 nautical miles (23,576km) will see the KD Lekir participating in various exercises including the live firing of a missile against a target ship.

“RMN’s participation in Rimpac 2024 sends several important messages and brings benefits for the nation, which is to showcase RMN’s capabilities and preparedness in executing complex and challenging maritime operations while improving interoperability between the RMN and all navies participating in the exercise.

“Apart from that, the exercise is a platform for RMN personnel to gain knowledge and experience through intensive training.

“The participation will also strengthen diplomatic and defence relations with other countries through interaction and close cooperation,” it said in its statement.

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