COMMENT | Some years back when asked about Anwar Ibrahim’s fitness for prime ministerial office, Dr Mahathir Mohamad sarcastically replied that Anwar was only fit to be the prime minister of Israel.

The jibe not only reflected the acrimony that existed between the two adversaries, but it also displayed the willingness of Mahathir to resort to a crass trope commonly employed by Muslim politicians - tarring their enemies as Zionist agents.

The latest war between Hamas and Israel has given Malaysia’s tenth prime minister the chance to demonstrate he’s not a soft touch on Zionists when it comes to the issue of Israel and Hamas.

The perception of Anwar as soft on Zionists stemmed from the pomp of the welcome ceremony he received during a visit to the White House in the later part of his deputy premiership (1990 to 1998).

For a deputy prime minister to have been accorded such pageantry spoke of the regard in which he was held.

The visit was...