Israeli YouTuber documented himself in Malaysia - and the international project was closed
Tevel Rachmani, a content creator living in the US, arrived to visit his mother who was staying in the country as part of an international community project. A video he uploaded to the web drew a wave of anti-Israel comments and led to the intervention of local authorities, who canceled the project's operating license.
Tevel Rachmani, an Israeli-American YouTuber, arrived in the state of Johor in Malaysia to visit his mother. During his short stay, he decided to document himself and uploaded a video to the web that sparked a storm, led to a hunt for Israelis, and resulted in the closure of an international project in the country. In an interview with ynet, he told how a private visit turned into a diplomatic and political crisis.
Rachmani, a content creator living in Los Angeles, said he arrived in Malaysia for 10 days. His mother is a volunteer in a project called "Network State". According to him, he did not hide his Israeli identity and received permission to film on site. "I am a YouTuber, a content creator. There was no problem with us being Israelis. There was at least one other Israeli during my stay," he said.
The project, founded by American-Indian entrepreneur and crypto investor Balaji Srinivasan, was intended to serve as an international community for high-tech entrepreneurs, crypto figures, and digital nomads. It is a community based on shared values rather than geographical borders, with the intention of establishing similar centers in other countries in the future. According to Rachmani, most participants arrive for a period of at least a month, and some stay for a year or more. "It's a kind of state within a state," he described.
According to him, he and his mother entered Malaysia using American passports via Singapore. "I knew they were a bit wary of YouTubers, so I asked for and received permission to film." However, after he uploaded a short clip of the video to his Instagram account, a wave of hostile reactions began. "Someone asked me if I was Israeli. I answered yes. Immediately after that, tags with pro-Palestinian slogans began."
Later, Rachmani described how large anti-Israel pages in Malaysia, including a page with about two million followers identified with activists for Palestine, published posts against the very presence of Israelis in the project. "From there, everything snowballed. Suddenly I started receiving comments like 'Get out of the country', 'There are no Israelis in Malaysia', 'Zionist', GIFs of stepping on the Israeli flag, and calls to destroy the Network School," continued Rachmani.
The online storm quickly moved to the authorities. According to him, immigration officials arrived at the compound and checked the passports of all participants. "They didn't find any Israelis there. There were rumors that some of them fled, but I don't think that happened." Shortly thereafter, the government of the state of Johor announced the cancellation of the project's operating license.
Entrepreneur Srinivasan claimed that some of the reports published were inaccurate and that it was a license revocation concerning only a specific plot of land. At the same time, he announced that he had signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Kazakhstan to establish a new campus in that country, which increased assessments that some of the activity would be transferred there.
Rachmani himself said that he never imagined that a documentary video would turn into an international affair. "I didn't think it would create such a mess. The goal of my videos is to create a connection between people and ignore political agendas. But after I saw the amount of support for the posts against me, it really surprised me." According to him, during his stay at the compound, he did not feel threatened because it is an international community with almost no contact with the local population. "I wasn't afraid, but in retrospect, I understand that the situation was much more hostile than I thought."
Rachmani said he would not return to Malaysia and recommended that Israelis also not come to the country. "I definitely wouldn't go there. They threaten the deportation of Israelis."
The storm around the video occurred against the backdrop of the hardening of the Malaysian government's position towards Israel. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim declared that any Israeli citizen found in the country would be deported immediately, and made it clear that even pressure from the United States would not change the policy. Following these remarks, the US State Department approached the Malaysian government with a request for clarification after Republican congressmen accused Kuala Lumpur of antisemitic policy and demanded a review of security cooperation with it.
In Israel, it is confirmed that Malaysia also deports Israelis with dual citizenship who enter the country using a foreign passport, and even those who arrive there only for a connecting flight. At the same time, sources familiar with the matter note that Srinivasan's project also had Israeli investors, and that the entrepreneur himself is known to have ties and investments in Israeli companies — a fact that added to the public and political sensitivity surrounding the affair.
