Foreign Ministry: Indonesia Won’t Establish Diplomatic Relations with Israel
Jakarta, MINA – The Indonesian government has denied reports that this Muslim-majority country will establish diplomatic relations with Israel as one of the conditions for becoming a member of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).
The government, through Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, emphasized that currently there are no plans to open diplomatic relations with Israel.
“I emphasize that currently there are no plans to open diplomatic relations with Israel, especially in the midst of the current situation of Israeli atrocities in Gaza. “Indonesia’s position has not changed and remains firmly in support of Palestinian independence within the framework of a two-state solution,” said Iqbal in a written statement on Thursday.
He emphasized that Indonesia will always consistently be at the forefront of defending the rights of the Palestinian people.
This denial also dismisses news published by the Israeli newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, that OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann two weeks ago wrote to the Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz.
In the letter it was said that Indonesia agreed to open official relations with Israel so that it could be accepted to join the OECD.
Israel indeed rejects Indonesia’s plan to enter the OECD because the country with the largest Muslim majority population in the world does not want to recognize Israel until Palestine is independent and sovereign.
Iqbal explained that Indonesia’s process to become an OECD member took quite a long time. The road map to be adopted next May contains a lot that Indonesia must prepare.
According to him, the time required for each country to complete the full membership process in the OECD varies depending on each country’s readiness. He said some countries needed three years, some more than five years to be accepted into the OECD.
Responding to this, international relations observer from Padjadjaran University, Teuku Rezasyah, said that Indonesia already has memberships that are more beneficial from an economic perspective than joining the OECD, such as ASEAN, MIKTA, comprehensive partnerships with various countries, and APEC.
He added, Indonesia should not be provoked by provocations related to the Palestine-Israel issue.
“I don’t think Indonesia needs to enter (the OECD) and we shouldn’t be tempted to enter or respond to it. “Because of the combination of ASEAN, APEC, ASEAN Community plus MIKTA, plus regional economic partnerships, plus business agreements such as the ASEAN-China Free Trade Zone, it is already far above the OECD,” he said, citing VOA Indonesia.
According to Rezasyah, if one of the conditions for becoming an OECD member was to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, the Indonesian government would not dare take the risk. He suggested that the government withdraw from plans to join the OECD.
He said it was the OECD that needed Indonesia to be the country with the largest population in the Southeast Asia region, then it was predicted to become the seventh largest economy in the world.
“The ASEAN Free Trade Area combined with MIKTA combined again with the regional economic comprehensive partnership, the figures are far above the OECD,” he added.
If it gets caught up in the issue of official relations with Israel, continued Rezasyah, President Joko Widodo’s government could be in trouble. In the current conditions, just talking about relations with Israel could cause enormous trouble for the government.
He believes that the Indonesian people are aware that the government should not play around in opening official relations with Israel, because the impact will be very big. Moreover, since October 7 last year, Israel has continued to bombard the Gaza Strip. (T/RE1/P2)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
