Indonesian Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Denies News Of Barter Recovery Of Diplomatic Relations With Israel For OECD Membership Support

Illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Zachi Evenor)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs through a spokesman for Lalu M. Iqbal firmly denied any bartering for the recovery of diplomatic relations with Israel, with support for Indonesian membership in international economic forums.

"I emphasize that until now 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 strong in supporting Palestinian independence within the framework of a two-state solution," said Iqbal of the news of the restoration of diplomatic relations with Israel, in his statement Thursday, April 11 evening.

"Indonesia will always be consistent, at the forefront of defending the rights of the Palestinian people," he said.

Earlier, The Times of Israel quoted the Ynet news site on Thursday as reporting that Israel and Indonesia had held talks on the normalization of relations between the two countries over the past three months, news site Ynet reported.

The unnamed report said, in exchange for relations with Israel, Jerusalem would stop prevent Indonesia from joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an economic organization that currently includes 38 countries with the world's leading economies.

"Indonesia's membership process will take quite a long time," explained Iqbal

"Roadmap of membership, according to the plan, will be adopted next May and in the roadmap there are many things that must be prepared by Indonesia," he continued.

The report said the OECD was also involved in the talks. An Israeli official later confirmed the report to the Times of Israel.

"The time it takes for each country to complete the full membership process in OECD is different. It all depends on the readiness of the country. Some countries need 3 years, some require more than 5 years," explained Iqbal.

Israel has reportedly sought to normalize relations with Indonesia, the largest Muslim country, along with Saudi Arabia and other countries before the war with Hamas broke out on October 7, which largely stopped the move.