Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to the Maldives

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The Maldives: no Jewish community, a short-lived thaw with the Israeli state under Nasheed, the 2025 ban on Israeli passport holders, and former president Waheed's ties to Jeffrey Epstein

The Maldives has no known Jewish community. Under President Mohamed Nasheed it signed three cooperation agreements with "Israel" in 2009; the next government annulled them in 2014 and announced a boycott of Israeli goods.[1] In April 2025 it barred entry to holders of Israeli passports.[2] Newly released US Justice Department files show that former president Mohamed Waheed Hassan had close ties to Jeffrey Epstein from 2011, including requests for help with the international media and resort-investment proposals.[3][4]

Jewish community and religious life

The World Jewish Congress has no community page for the Maldives, and no Jewish community or communal organisation in the Maldives was found.

Chabad

Main article: Chabad-Lubavitch movement

There is no Chabad Bot page for the Maldives.

Israeli state and commercial ties

Diplomacy

In 2009 President Mohamed Nasheed's government signed three agreements with "Israel" on health, culture and education, and tourism. Addressing the UN General Assembly that year, Nasheed said renewed diplomatic relations with "Israel" would be used to reiterate the Maldives' support for a two-state solution.[1] In December 2010 Nasheed met eye surgeons from the Israeli volunteer organisation Eye from Zion, who treated patients at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Malé; religiously conservative protesters burned Israeli flags and demanded the doctors' deportation.[5][6]

In July 2014, during the Israeli assault on Gaza, the foreign minister of President Abdulla Yameen's government, Dunya Maumoon, announced that the three agreements were annulled and that Israeli products would be boycotted, saying: "I do not think Maldivians want any help from Israel or want to keep up relations with Israel." She stopped short of severing diplomatic ties.[1] A minister at the President's Office said the Maldives would reject investors from "Israel" in future.[7]

Ban on Israeli passport holders

On 15 April 2025 the People's Majlis unanimously passed the Third Amendment to the Immigration Act, which bars holders of Israeli passports from entering the country, and President Mohamed Muizzu ratified it the same day. Dual nationals may enter on another passport. The bill had been proposed on 29 May 2024 by Meekail Ahmed Naseem, a member of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, and had been stalled in committee for 308 days.[8] The President's Office said the law reflected "the Government's firm stance in response to the continuing atrocities and ongoing acts of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people".[2]

Arms and trade

SIPRI records no Israeli arms transfers to the Maldives.[9] The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list the Maldives separately in its trade-by-country table.[10]

Political interference

UN voting

The Maldives voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.[11]

Jeffrey Epstein and Mohamed Waheed

Documents released by the US Department of Justice in the Jeffrey Epstein files show a long relationship between Epstein and Mohamed Waheed Hassan, who was vice-president and then, in 2012–2013, president.

  • Their correspondence began in September 2011, after they met during the UN General Assembly in New York, and continued until at least early 2016, including dinners at Epstein's Manhattan house.[4]
  • On 7 February 2012 Epstein congratulated Waheed: "I am thrilled that the maldives are now in your hands, when you and sultan met in my paris apt, we contemplated a visit to your islands". In March 2012 Waheed replied that he was "having a lot of difficulty with the former President Nasheed", asked Epstein to check with "Sultan" for a briefing, and asked how he could get an article placed in The New York Times.[12]
  • On 28 April 2012 Waheed thanked Epstein "for the excellent support provided", noting that an adviser had "provided much needed advice to deal with international press", complained that "Former president Nasheed is supported by David Cameron's government", and described pressure from a Commonwealth ministerial committee (CMAG). Epstein replied that he would "meet with Ian and review the cameron options".[13] The same day Waheed wrote to Ian Osborne that the tourism ministry had hired the public relations firm Ruder Finn, and that "Fortunately no one knew about your support".[14]
  • In July 2012 Epstein forwarded to the JP Morgan banker Jes Staley a message from Waheed saying that his finance minister was looking to borrow up to $500 million.[3]
  • In November 2012 Waheed's business partner Ibrahim Mohamed Didi wrote, in an email that DP World's chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem forwarded to Epstein, that Waheed had been told by "your friend Jeffrey" that he would send a campaign strategist.[3]
  • In January 2013 Epstein warned Waheed that a proposed money transfer bore the marks of an advance-fee fraud: "Stay away". Waheed replied: "Thank you. You are my savior. I will do exactly what you said."[15]
  • In May 2014, after meeting Epstein in New York and before a dinner at his house on 19 May,[3] Waheed pitched two resort projects to him: a $25 million private island retreat at Fuggiri, and a $400 million five-island cluster at Innareha, developed with Didi.[4][3] Fuggiri was leased without tender in 2015 to a Dubai-based company; former president Yameen is on trial accused of taking a $1.1 million bribe over the lease.[3]
  • In July 2014 Sulayem emailed Epstein "At Maldives" after meeting President Yameen: "We will invest in their port and logistic park".[3]

After the emails became public, Waheed resigned in February 2026 as President Muizzu's special envoy, saying his dealings with Epstein had been "strictly professional" and that he had not known of Epstein's 2008 conviction.[4]

Ehud Barak's emails

The following items come from the two leaked mailboxes of the former Israeli prime minister and defence minister Ehud Barak (ehbarak1@gmail.com and ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com, 2007–2016). They were hacked and leaked by Handala, a group that Distributed Denial of Secrets describes as "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and were published by Distributed Denial of Secrets in August 2025. The emails carry no cryptographic signatures, and Distributed Denial of Secrets warns that material from such hack-and-leak operations may have been altered.[16]

  • On 28 April 2014 Epstein wrote to Barak: "I have peter thiel on the 19th in ny, if you like, as well as the former president of the maldives".[17] Waheed's dinner at Epstein's house took place on 19 May 2014.[3]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Maldives to boycott Israeli products, annul bilateral agreements Maldives Independent, 21 July 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 President's Office (Maldives), President ratifies Third Amendment to the Maldives Immigration Act, prohibiting entry of Israeli passport holders presidency.gov.mv, 15 April 2025 (Maldivian government-side).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Ahmed Naish, Resort deals, campaign help, financial advice: Epstein's deep ties to ex-Maldives president Maldives Independent, 1 February 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Ahmed Naish, Ex-Maldives Leader Pitched $25 Million Island Deal to Epstein, Files Show OCCRP / Maldives Independent, 10 February 2026.
  5. ↑ President's Office (Maldives), President Meets Israeli Eye Doctors presidency.gov.mv, 12 December 2010 (Maldivian government-side).
  6. ↑ Israeli eye surgeons begin treating patients Maldives Independent, 13 December 2010.
  7. ↑ Maldives to boycott Israeli products SunOnline International, July 2014.
  8. ↑ President ratifies Immigration Act amendment, banning entry on Israeli passports Edition.mv, 15 April 2025.
  9. ↑ Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Arms Transfers Database SIPRI, trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.
  10. ↑ Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports CBS, December 2025 issue (library copy) (Israeli government-side).
  11. ↑ United Nations General Assembly, Recorded vote on A/80/L.1/Rev.1: Endorsement of the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, 12 September 2025 (copy hosted by Al-Quds Al-Arabi).
  12. ↑ Email thread between Mohamed Waheed Hassan and Jeffrey Epstein, "Re: congragulations", 7 February – 22 March 2012, EFTA02009427, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 10, copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein, accessed 21 October 2026.
  13. ↑ Email thread between Mohamed Waheed Hassan and Jeffrey Epstein, "Re: Thank you", 28 April 2012, EFTA00933938, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 9, copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein, accessed 21 October 2026.
  14. ↑ Email from Mohamed Waheed Hassan to Ian Osborne, "Your support", 28 April 2012, EFTA00933933, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 9, copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein, accessed 21 October 2026.
  15. ↑ Email thread between Jeffrey Epstein and Mohamed Waheed Hassan, "Re:", 26–27 January 2013, EFTA01904345, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 10, copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein, accessed 21 October 2026.
  16. ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Ehud Barak emails, 27 August 2025, with download at data.ddosecrets.org, accessed 21 October 2026.
  17. ↑ Email from Jeffrey Epstein to Ehud Barak, 28 April 2014, file ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!35/1 (496).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.
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