Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has threatened to deport any Israelis found at a self-styled “start-up society” in Johor, after online claims about the tech commune triggered a national security investigation.
“We will not allow it,” Anwar told reporters on Wednesday. “If there are Israeli nationals, since we do not recognise Israel, they will be deported immediately.”
The Network School, a co-living compound founded by former Coinbase executive Balaji Srinivasan in Forest City, came under scrutiny after a glossy video posted by Srinivasan last week drew attention to the project and ignited an online backlash in Malaysia.
In the video, residents spoke of living on “a man-made island near Singapore”, while Srinivasan declared: “We’re building Silicon Valley outside Silicon Valley.”
A user wrote in a social media post: “Sounds like a cult, definitely operates like a cult, recruits like a cult.”
The island is part of Forest City, the China-backed megaproject in southern Malaysia that sits across the Johor Strait from Singapore.