Maldives, a popular tourist destination, is iconic for its overwater villas, tropical forests, palm trees and beaches. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(JTA) — After Mohamed Muizzu, president of the Indian Ocean nation of Maldives, announced last year that Israeli passport holders would be barred from entering his country, in protest against Israel’s war in Gaza, the plan hit a snag.
Officials there realized that some Palestinians have Israeli passports and would also be excluded. They decided to slow down the process and craft more targeted legislation.
Now, the last obstacles have been cleared and the ban has gone into immediate effect following ratification by the Maldivian parliament. Israelis can no longer enter Maldives, where millions of visitors travel annually to hundreds of guesthouses and lavish resorts that generate the majority of the country’s tax revenue.
“The Maldives reaffirms its resolute solidarity with the Palestinian cause,” Muizzu said in a statement.
The policy is one of the most sweeping to penalize Israelis over Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, which began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas invaded Israel. Other countries that have since taken action against Israel have not imposed sanctions on individual Israelis.
Maldives, whose official state religion is Islam, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. About 11,000 Israelis visited Maldives last year, according to the tourism ministry.
But that number has fallen dramatically since last year’s announcement and a warning by Israel’s foreign ministry against visiting the country. In March, just 80 Israeli passport-holders entered the Maldives, compared to 1,269 in March 2023, according to the country’s official data.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
