It seems an odd tack to take for a politician as loved in the West and at home as Anwar Ibrahim to invoke claims that his opponents in the Malaysian government are pawns of Israel and Jewish lobby groups, but that's exactly what he did:

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has accused his country's government of supporting the pro-Israel lobby in the US and Jewish groups inside Israel."I have evidence proving that the government is backing the Jewish lobby in the US and some parties inside Israel," Anwar told IslamOnline.net in an exclusive interview. Anwar, a former deputy premier contesting legislative by-election as the next step in his plan to become premier, declined to elaborate on the nature of the support or his evidence. Malaysia, a Muslim Asian giant, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Anwar is widely expected to win the election next week, even in the face of charges he violated state law by having sex with a male aide, which places him dead center in the maelstrom of a fractious coalition trying to knit together a cohesive national identity in the diverse nation:

"Mr. Anwar is the glue that binds the opposition alliance together," says Shamsul Ahmad Baruddin, an anthropology professor at the National University of Malaysia. "He's the only one who can bring these disparate groups together in protest. And that's why his opponents are ready to knock him down at any cost."

Among those coalition members is the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia, which seeks to recast Malaysia as a country even more firmly governed by Islamic law, and criticizes the ruling Barisan National party for failing to address what it perceives as cultural corruption (such as the off-again, on-again Avril Lavigne concert--no, seriously). It may be that Anwar foresaw the need to bring the fundamentalist wing of Malaysia's Islamic politics under his coalition, since he was extremely critical of both Israel and the U.S.' policies toward it in 2006, when he was being considered to succeed Kofi Annan at the United Nations:

Israel must be reined in, and genuine democracy must be promoted in the region - which means the US must be prepared to deal with parties that are not willing to be dictated by its whims and fancies. This is really unfortunate, because historically the US has been seen as the beacon of freedom and democracy throughout the world. The neo-conservative policy unfortunately has only exacerbated anti-Americanism in the Muslim world.

Such statements seem both politically courageous and sharply ironic when you consider the close personal relationship Anwar has enjoyed with disgraced former World Bank head Paul Wolfowitz, one of the chief architects of the Iraq war and a die-hard supporter of Israel's hardline policies via the PNAC cabal. It's also depressing when you consider how an Anwar-led governing coalition in Malaysia could much more easily broker ties with Israel than either Barisan or PAS could.

Ibrahim himself addressed this contradiction in another 2006 interview:

MARK COLVIN: You have many friends in Washington, including a number who have been labelled neo-conservatives, like Paul Wolfowitz.

What do they say when you say these things?

ANWAR IBRAHIM: Well, I continue to engage, I mean despite the fact that many of my friends have attacked me severely or ferociously for being submissive to the neo-cons, I'm not.

To the contrary, I've used the engagement to articulate frankly to them that we are together in terms of promoting reform and freedom, we are together in securing peace in the Middle East.

I am agreeable, I mean, I support the policy to protect the security of Israel, but I cannot rationalise the continuing bombardment of Iraq. I cannot rationalise the intransigence of Israel to the Palestinians.

So we have to try and get them to understand and appreciate the concerns are there. You can't treat a group of people as slaves, but well, I have not been successful. I have been having a few sessions with Deputy-Secretary Zoellick, I continue to have sessions with Paul Wolfowitz, I'm not giving up.

As Bridget Welsh notes for the Guardian, the stakes for Malaysia have never been higher as the election looms, and authoritarianism is running rampant to crush voices of dissent, the majority of which support Anwar. Anwar can easily (and justifiably, in many cases) criticize Israel's aggressive policies and the circle of moneyed neocons in the U.S. who back them without verging into conspiratorial shadow-cabinet theories. If the PAS needs this kind of fearmongering to continue giving its support to Anwar, he might want to reconsider the company he's keeping before he leads his country down a dark path.