Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob (Jawi: اسماعيل صبري بن يعقوب; born 18 January 1960) is a Malaysian lawyer and politician who served as the ninth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2021 to 2022.

As of a result of the ongoing 2020–21 Malaysian political crisis, he was formally appointed and sworn in as prime minister on 21 August 2021 following the resignation of his predecessor Muhyiddin Yassin.

[4] Ismail served in several cabinet positions in the BN administration under former Prime Ministers Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Razak, from March 2008 to its 2018 general election loss.

After this culminated in the collapse of the government and Muhyiddin's resignation, he successfully entered negotiations to become prime minister in August 2021 after garnering the support of the most MPs.

[1][6] As Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri lifted the Movement Control Order following the expansion of the vaccination programme and oversaw the Twelfth Malaysia Plan.

He served in the position from 2008 to 2009 for a year when Abdullah resigned as prime minister and was replaced by Najib Razak who switched Ismail Sabri to another ministerial portfolio.

[39] Ahmad Zahid has repeatedly called for the next Malaysian general election to be held as soon as possible while Ismail Sabri remains uninterested and undecided on the issue.

Although Mohamad is ranked higher than Ismail Sabri as the UMNO deputy president, he was not an elected MP and did not satisfy the criteria to be appointed to the position.

[46] Subsequent to Muhyiddin's resignation as prime minister on 16 August 2021 after the loss of the government's majority amid the ongoing political crisis, his cabinet was dissolved.

[49] With his appointment as prime minister, the Barisan Nasional (BN) and United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) which dominated the politics of Malaysia for more than six decades from the independence in 1957 to 2018, came back to power and regained the premiership to lead the administration.

[citation needed] On 23 October 2021, Ismail began his first and working trip to Sarawak[54] after his appointment as prime minister and told in a press conference after visiting the Petra Jaya Hospital project site that he did not hope the practice of appointing rescue contractors to persist and instead called for closer monitoring of government projects from the beginning to ensure they are completed according to the schedule.

[57] On 13 September 2021, the fourth session of the Parliament, first under Ismail's administration, was opened by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Abdullah with a traditional royal address at the Dewan Rakyat, he and four leaders of the Pakatan Harapan (PH), the largest opposition coalition, namely Anwar Ibrahim, Leader of the Opposition and President of the People's Justice Party (PKR), Lim Guan Eng, Secretary-General of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), Mohamad Sabu, President of the National Trust Party (AMANAH) and Wilfred Madius Tangau, President of the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bipartisan cooperation and political transformation in parliament in efforts to realise political ceasefire.

12MP focuses on four human capital development areas in education sector, set aside RM 400 billion for ongoing and new projects, become carbon-neutral by 2050 to attract foreign investment, tackle climate change issues,[59] 5G being deployed by the end of 2021, community Internet centres to be upgraded, its Public Service Law also meets calls for efficient and transparent government, its Governance Index to boost performance, integrity and compliance with global anti-graft standards, aims at Malaysia being transformed into a high-income nation by 2025 and where the average income of every families reaches RM 10000 and ensures 51% Bumiputra equity in local freight forwarding companies.

[60][61] In December 2021, Ismail Sabri and his government faced criticism by the opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan, for the response to major floods that affected many states in Peninsular Malaysia.

He added that "we do not need to feel ashamed or awkward to use Bahasa Malaysia at the international level because this effort to uphold the language is also in line with one of the priority areas".

[70] On 24 September 2022, he created history as the first Malaysian prime minister to deliver a speech using the language in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

[80] On 22 October 2021, after chairing meeting of the COVID-19 Pandemic Management Special Committee, he said international tourists would be allowed to visit Langkawi under an international tourism travel bubble pilot project with effect on 15 November 2021, the pilot project will be on for three months for the Ministry of Health and National Security Council to evaluate its effectiveness before the initiative is expanded to other islands and tourism destinations.

[85][86] In April 2022, UMNO announced Ismail Sabri as its candidate for prime minister in the 15th Malaysian general election, due to be held by 19 November 2022.

[100] Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar stated that the minister would be investigated under the Sedition Act 1948 and Ismail Sabri has since deleted the Facebook comment.

[9] In October 2018, Ismail agreed to pay DAP's Ngeh Koo Ham RM80,000 in damages and RM5,000 in legal fees after being found guilty of defamation.

[102] MCA then-president Liow Tiong Lai said that the setting up of Low Yat 2 would only hurt racial relations, and described the proposal for the bumiputra-only mall as an "antagonistic approach".

[106] Lim Kit Siang responded that Ismail Sabri appeared to be attempting to frame the upcoming general election as a battle between Malays and Chinese, as well as between Islam and its "enemies".

[7] On 4 November 2015, a photo of Ismail Sabri having dinner at a seafood restaurant in Sandakan with Beluran Umno chief Datuk James Ratib went viral.

[115] PKR's Nurul Izzah Anwar sued Ismail Sabri Yaakob and IGP Khalid Abu Bakar in November 2015 for allegedly accusing her of being a traitor to the country.

[52] The petition was critical of Ismail Sabri's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in his prior positions leading to large-scale infections, and for previous comments on race and Malay "special rights".

Ismail has been also criticised in the petition for the sometimes confusing and conflicting health protocols, namely Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), including on which economic sectors should stay shut as COVID-19 cases kept rising.

In response, Nadiem Makarim, minister of education, culture, research, and technology of Indonesia, expressed that the Indonesian language should sit in the lead.

[124] Ismail Sabri has called Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League, United Nations and the entire Muslim communities to halt "atrocities committed by Zionist regime".

He added that the latest conflict between Palestine and Israel stems from a very long history and that the Palestinians had been locked up in the world's largest open-air prison for decades.

[126] His son Gadaffi Ismail Sabri or more popularly known as Dafi is a former participant-student of entertainment reality show Akademi Fantasia Season 5 turned singer and actor.