News report on Israeli meeting in May to discuss death penalty in S’pore is false: Shanmugam
A direction under POFMA has not been issued, but it does not mean it cannot be issued later, he added.
A recent news report claiming that an Israeli security delegation visited Singapore in May to discuss the death penalty with local officials has been debunked by Senior Minister K. Shanmugam. The article, published by Haaretz on September 7, falsely stated that the secret meeting transpired even though it was not initially on the agenda. Shanmugam, who serves as Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs, addressed a parliamentary query from Fadli Fawzi (Aljunied GRC) on October 7.
The meeting in question was a routine security and law enforcement discussion between Singapore and an Israeli delegation, focusing on operational and security matters without delving into broader foreign policy issues. Shanmugam clarified that such exchanges are common between Singapore and international counterparts, enabling the sharing of information and intelligence to safeguard national security.
He added that Singapore's stance on matters like illegal settlements and settler violence in the West Bank is typically addressed through appropriate foreign policy channels, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Regarding the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), Shanmugam noted that an order to issue a direction has not been issued, but it could be done in the future if circumstances warrant it. The Ministry of Home Affairs responded to the Haaretz article because the claims made about the meeting with Israeli security officials were categorically false.
Shanmugam emphasized that decisions on when to issue a POFMA direction are based on the public interest, and it remains a possibility should circumstances change.
Written by urgent.news from Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
