It's been a busy week (and will be quite a busy weekend) so I'm going to try to keep this one focused.
Will "in principle" ever turn into actual action?
This week, K Shanmugam, the minister for home affairs and coordinating minister for national security, once again reiterated the government's line that immediate recognition of the state of Palestine won't be helpful.
The majority of United Nations member states—147 out of 193—recognise the state of Palestine. More will join their ranks: countries like Australia, Belgium, Canada and France have indicated that they'll be recognising Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly this month. The UK has also said that they'll recognise the state of Palestine unless Israel meets certain conditions like a ceasefire in Gaza—which means they're probably going to do it because Israel isn't doing anything of the sort.
Singapore, meanwhile, is willing to recognise Palestinian statehood "in principle", but has so far resisted actually doing it. The government says they'd like to see particular conditions met first, like physical space for a Palestinian state to exist and an effective government that can work towards peace and a two-state solution. This week, Shanmugam acknowledged that these conditions aren't going to be met any time soon because of Israel's actions. From CNA's report:
Mr Shanmugam said three conditions need to be met for the state of Palestine to be viable: There needs to be a physical space, which Israel is “doing its best to prevent”; a population, though "current actions seem designed to destroy" a large number of the population or move them out of Gaza; and a viable government.
“What it really needs is support in the Palestinian Authority, giving them legitimacy and building them up to a stage where they can govern,” said Mr Shanmugam, referring to the government body which partially rules the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
“But again, the fact on the ground, I think, prevents the international community from doing that.”
If this is the case, then when will Singapore ever recognise the state of Palestine?
What about cutting ties?
Shanmugam also nixed the idea of cutting diplomatic ties with Israel, arguing that, not only will it be inconsistent with some of our other foreign policy decisions, it will also not help the people of Gaza. He argued that, given our long-standing relationship, Singapore is "not completely insignificant" in Israel's eyes, which gives us the opportunity to continue dialogue with the Israeli government.
"They do listen, as long as we are sensible. It doesn't mean they follow; but at least they listen," CNA reports him saying.
The Straits Times also quotes him: "Bad as the (Israel-Hamas conflict) is, the casualties—and no one can justify them—the point is equally bad or worse things are happening around the world, and our approach has to be consistent to all of them."
Realistically, Shanmugam says, the only country that has the power to make Israel do anything is the US, and Singapore can't do anything about the US's position on the issue.
Given this, he says, Singapore focuses on "serious work, hard work" based on "non-emotional calibration"—delivering humanitarian assistance, working on capacity building for the Palestinian Authority, plus committing to helping in the reconstruction of Gaza once a permanent ceasefire agreement is reached (whenever that may be).
This can't be all we do
I don't pretend to be an expert capable of swooping in and solving all conflict between Israel and Palestine. But I also don't need to be an expert to point out that there is genocide going on right now, and it needs to stop. Israel's attacks have been brutal and indiscriminate, killing women and children, journalists, medical staff... just everyone. It's clear that Netanyahu's administration doesn't actually give a shit about getting civilian hostages home safe—they're even ignoring the protests of these hostages' families—and are really just determined to press ahead with their ethnic cleansing. Regardless of what you think should be done to bring about peace in the region, the first and most urgent step must be to stop the perpetrators of genocide.
"STOP GENOCIDE" really shouldn't be a controversial demand.
Shanmugam is right in saying that, comparatively, the US has much more clout than Singapore. As long as the US continues to support Israel, funnelling it money and arms and providing cover at the United Nations, letting Netanyahu indulge all his murderous fantasies with impunity, it's likely that the violence will continue and Singapore has very little direct control over that. But not having control over the whole situation doesn't excuse us from doing much more with what we do have control over.
When the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar produced a report that pointed out Singapore-based entities were among the sources of weapons materials to the Myanmar military, our government "immediately responded" and cracked down. In June 2024, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs stated that
Singapore’s policy is to prohibit the transfer of arms to Myanmar, and to not authorise the transfer to Myanmar of dual-use items which have been assessed to have potential military application and where there is a serious risk they may be used to inflict violence against unarmed civilians.
Let's go back another two years: after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Singapore's government acted decisively, too. Less than two weeks after the invasion, MFA announced that Singapore was going to "act in concert with many other like-minded countries to impose appropriate sanctions and restrictions against Russia". The fact that a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution to condemn the invasion had failed to pass (because of Russia's veto) didn't stop us:
These sanctions and restrictions aim to constrain Russia’s capacity to conduct war against Ukraine and undermine its sovereignty. We will impose export controls on items that can be directly used as weapons to inflict harm on or to subjugate the Ukrainians, as well as items that can contribute to offensive cyber operations. In this regard, we will impose a ban on the transfer to Russia of: (a) all items in the Military Goods List and (b) all items in the “Electronics”, “Computers”, and “Telecommunications and Information Security” categories of the Dual-Use Goods List of the Strategic Goods (Control) Order 2021.
We will impose financial measures targeted at designated Russian banks, entities and activities in Russia, and fund-raising activities benefiting the Russian government. Digital payment token service providers are specifically prohibited from facilitating transactions that could help to circumvent these financial measures. These measures apply to all financial institutions in Singapore, including banks, finance companies, insurers, capital markets intermediaries, securities exchanges and payment service providers.
Have we done any of these things with Israel? This was Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan's answer when the Progress Singapore Party's Leong Mun Wai asked, on 15 October 2024, about halting arms sales to Israel and imposing sanctions:
First, on banning imported products from Israeli settlements, we do not have any record of Singapore having imported such products. Second, on the question of arms sales, Singapore complies strictly with our international obligations on international arms sales, as well as UN sanctions and embargoes against any country, including submitting regular reports to the UN Register of Conventional Arms. Apart from this, it is the established policy of the Government not to publicly divulge details of defence sales for national security reasons. Third, on the sanctioning of individuals and entities, Singapore has and will consistently comply with all UNSC sanctions as part of our international legal obligations.
While some countries have imposed sanctions on certain Israeli settler leaders and entities, it is far from clear that such measures have had meaningful impact on the ground. This is not how Singapore should conduct foreign policy, and we must weigh all considerations carefully. Any decision to impose unilateral sanctions must be considered carefully and based on our national interests.
We also know that, in early 2024, Israeli firms were still welcomed at the Changi Airshow, where, as Haaretz's headline put it, "the Gaza war was a selling point for Israeli arms makers". Singapore and Israel also continue to have close cooperation in a bunch of areas.
This means that it's true we're "not completely insignificant" to Israel; we're still a customer and trading partner, a place where their businesses (including those with ties to the military) can come and make lots of money. But what should we do with this "not insignificance"? Continue to try to talk to the Israeli government, like Shanmugam says, and comfort ourselves that "they do listen, as long as we are sensible"? What does "as long as we are sensible" even mean when engaging with a government in the middle of committing genocide? How valuable is this channel for dialogue when Netanyahu's administration is clearly not listening and up to their eyeballs in blood?
At some point, we need to draw a line and decide that there's no point in talking to mass murderers.
History will judge us too
When it comes to recognising Palestinian statehood, it's about how we want to use our voice. It might be seen as a diplomatic and symbolic move, but it can send a message, especially when we stand with other states in condemnation of what's going on. "Sensible" talk with the Israeli government is clearly not getting anywhere, so we should do something more to increase the pressure. At the very least, we need to do everything we can to ensure that we're not complicit in genocide through our partnerships, collaborations, and other bilateral connections. For example, the MATADOR weapon system jointly developed by an Israeli state-owned weapons manufacturer, a German company and the Singapore government has been used in Gaza—what measures have we taken to ensure that the results of any ongoing collaboration or partnership with the Israeli government or Israeli firms won't contribute to the oppression, subjugation, or killing of Palestinians?
Of course, recognition alone isn't going to solve anything—it's a sign of solidarity, but we can and should do more. Singapore's actions in relation to Russia and Myanmar are examples of how it is possible to take more concrete and firm steps even if we don't want to completely break off diplomatic ties.
(For reference, this week the Scottish government announced that defence contractors with the Israel Defense Forces among their clients will be banned from receiving government grants and investment support. They also froze support for trade with Israel.)
Shanmugam said that history will likely judge Israel harshly for what it has done and is still doing. But history will also judge the other governments who witnessed the violence and didn't do everything within their power to take a strong stand.
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