Anwar Denies Any Link With Israel, Jews - Bernama

SHAH ALAM, April 13 (Bernama) -- Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today denied any association with Israel or Jews, and described as defamatory a statement by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that only Israelis would vote for him if he was going for the prime minister's post.

"This is defamatory. I have never met any Israeli leader and neither have I paid for the services of any Jewish lobbyist," the PKR de facto leader told reporters here when asked to comment on Dr Mahathir's statement yesterday.

Dr Mahathir, when asked whether Anwar had the credibility to become prime minister in the next one or two years, had said that the "Haaretz" (Israeli newspaper) was the only paper in the world which thought that Anwar was going to be the prime minister and that he (Dr Mahathir) thought that he (Anwar) was the prime minister that the Israelis would vote for.

Anwar said today that Dr Mahathir should pay attention to his health.

He said Dr Mahathir might be too tired and confused, and continued to criticise him. He said he had refrained from responding to the criticism but felt that this time it had gone too far.

Asked about his reported plan to contest in a by-election for a seat to be vacated by any of the PKR members of parliament, Anwar said: "I have said that this is not a priority because Pakatan Rakyat (PKR, DAP and PAS) are administering five states and much work has to be done in fulfilling our pledges."

[From http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=326543]