Quora Answer: Who Does the Singapore Government Side With in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Who does the government of Singapore side with in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?” 

The Singapore government does not take sides.  On one hand, Singapore has close relations with the State of Israel.  However, that does not make Singapore party to the policies of the current government.  In fact, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued official statements calling for calm and restraint, and Singapore officially supports a two-state solution to the conflict. 

Unlike Israel, Palestine does not have official relationship with Singapore, since they do not have a government that represents all of the Palestinians due to their challenges, and internal politics.  However, the Palestinian cause resonates with a large segment of the population, and with Singapore’s Muslim-majority neighbours. 

Singapore is part of the Non-Aligned Movement, and is officially neutral.  Based on this, and the above factors, it would not make sense for the country to take one side over the other, when the belief is that dialogue with all sides is ultimately more constructive than belligerence.