The Maldives has shut its doors to Israeli passport holders, citing solidarity with Palestinians and accusing the Jewish State of genocide.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

The Maldivian parliament officially voted to ban Israeli tourists from entering the tropical Indian Ocean archipelago as an act of solidarity with Gaza.

“The ratification” of the bill barring Israeli tourists “reflects the government’s firm stance in response to the continuing atrocities and ongoing acts of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people,” said in a statement.

“The Maldives reaffirms its resolute solidarity with the Palestinian cause,” the statement read, adding that the ban was effective immediately.

A popular tourist destination for Israelis, more than 11,000 nationals from the Jewish state visited the Maldives, a tiny republic with a population of about half a million, in 2023.

However, since the onset of the war between Israel and the Hamas terror group, the majority-Muslim nation has signaled increasing hostility towards Israel.

In June 2024, the Maldives said it was considering barring Israeli passport holders from entering the country. Shortly after the announcement, Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued an official travel advisory urging Israelis not to visit the islands, as well as encouraging those already there to leave the country.

While the ban was being discussed, a senior Maldivian public figure made it clear that the country was looking to specifically punish Jews, rather than all people with Israeli citizenship.

Maldivian Attorney General Ahmed Usham warned that barring all Israeli passport holders would mean that Arabs with Israeli citizenship – numbering approximately two million people – would be unable to travel to the Maldives.

“The biggest concern is that there are many Palestinians with Israeli passports, millions of them. What happens when we impose a blanket ban? These are matters that need careful consideration,” Usham said at the time.

Yoseph Haddad, an Arab-Israeli Zionist activist, slammed the decision in an Instagram post.

The Maldives did not “ban entry for Palestinians after the October 7 massacre… if you raped, kidnapped, and massacred Israelis you are welcome to vacation there, but if your country defended itself against a terrorist organization you are not allowed entry,” Haddad wrote.

“They didn’t ban entry for citizens of Iran, North Korea, or Syria… only Israelis!”

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US Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) proposed to condition aid to the Maldives on allowing Israelis entrance to the country.

By Corey Walker, The Algemeiner

The US Congress is preparing to take action against the Maldives over its recent decision to ban Israeli citizens from entering the country.

US Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), a staunch supporter of Israel, is spearheading legislation that would condition American aid to the Maldives on allowing Israeli citizens to enter the country, according to Axios.

The legislation, titled the Protecting Allied Travel Here (PATH) Act, comes as a response to the Maldives’ recent announcement that it would discriminate against Israeli passport holders over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

“Taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be sent to a foreign nation that has banned all Israeli citizens from traveling to their country,” Gottheimer said in a statement.

“Not only is Israel one of our greatest democratic allies, but the Maldives’ unprecedented travel ban is nothing but a blatant act of Jew hatred. They shouldn’t get a cent of American dollars until they reverse course,” Gottheimer continued.

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu drafted the policy after consulting with his cabinet, according to a statement released by Muizzu’s office. Muizzu also appointed a special envoy to “assess Palestinian needs.”

“The cabinet decision includes amending necessary laws to prevent Israeli passport holders from entering the Maldives and establishing a cabinet subcommittee to oversee these efforts,” his office said in a statement.

“The president decided to appoint a special envoy to assess Palestinian needs.”

The ban also positions the popular tourist destination alongside other members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

With this legislation, the Maldives joins Yemen, Kuwait, Iran, Bangladesh, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Algeria as countries that prevent Israeli nationals from entering their nation.

Last year, almost 11,000 Israelis traveled to the Maldives, making up 0.6 percent of all visitors, according to The Times of Israel.

The Maldives has long been criticized for its human rights record. The nation declares Sunni Islam as the state religion, and only Sunni Muslims are afforded citizenship.

All Maldivians are required to teach their children Sunni Islam. Homosexuality is illegal in the Maldives and can be punished with imprisonment, fines, or lashings.

The Maldives’ constitution states that “no law contrary to any principle of Islam can be applied.”

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