This Sunday, June 2, the Maldives announced that the country was going to prohibit the entry to the Israelis, in solidarity with Palestine.
The president of this Indian Ocean archipelago, Mohamed Muizzu, decided to establish this ban on Israeli passports, without specifying the date of its implementation. In addition to this measure, President Muizzu launched a national fundraising campaign entitled “Solidarity Maldivians of Palestine”.
The Maldives previously raised a ban on Israeli tourists in the 1990s and attempted to normalize their relations with Israel in 2010. However, this attempt failed after the overthrow of President Mohamed Nasheed in February 2012.
Faced with the pressure of the opposition parties and the government’s allies, the Muizzu President made the decision to prohibit the entry of the Israelis in protest against the war in Gaza.
According to official statistics, the number of Israelis visiting the Maldives fell to 528 in the first four months of the year, a drop of 88% compared to the same period of the previous year.
