A senior Israeli official confirmed on Thursday that the largest Muslim country in the world is prepared to resume relations with Israel in order to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD ).
The possibility of a standardization offer was first revealed by Israel’s largest daily newspapers, Yedioth Ahronoth, on Thursday. The statement said “discreet conversations” had been underway between Israel, Indonesia, and the OECD for the past three decades.
Indonesia applied to the OECD’s 38 member countries in February, but present representative Israel objected to Jakarta’s accession because the OECD freely encourages all member states to have strong diplomatic relations with one another so they can work on policy decisions.
Although there have been some casual contacts in the background, Indonesia does not already have diplomatic ties with Israel, and the two countries deal for about half a billion dollars annually. After relations between the two nations were restored, Israel officially indicated it may help Indonesian membership in the OECD.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth, OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann stated in a letter to Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz that Indonesia has been informed that it must “establish diplomatic relations with all OECD member states before any decision is made to say it to the OECD that a decision must be made.
On November 15, 2022, OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann arrives for the G20 leaders ‘ summit in Nusa Dua, an island resort in Bali. ( WILLY KURNIAWAN/POOL/AFP via Getty )
Cormann assured Katz that the process of ratification for Indonesia did not proceed without “unanimous contract among all participant countries, including Israel.”
Because the OECD initially requested that Israel slowly permit Indonesia to visit, this confidence was crucial. As long as Indonesia was vehemently opposed to the Gaza battle and in favor of South Africa’s claims of genocide at the Hague, Katz said, that would be impossible.
Cormann even went as far as to approach Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and make an appeal to him immediately, but the Israeli head backed Katz and insisted that normalizing relations with Indonesia be a necessary prerequisite for OECD membership.
Cormann’s most recent letter was addressed by Katz with enthusiasm, stating that it was convinced that Indonesia would” a positive change in its plan toward Israel, particularly abandoning its angry policy toward it, leading to complete diplomatic relations between all sides.”
An unnamed Israeli official, who confirmed the Yedioth Ahronoth report, including the details that Indonesian officials reviewed Cormann’s letter before sending it to Katz, and who also endorsed everything the OECD chief said, was quoted by The Times of Israel ( TOI ).
In a time of widespread Muslim outrage over Israel’s self-defense activity against the murderous terrorists of Hamas in Gaza, Indonesian acknowledgement of Israel would be a world-shaking development. In the past, Indian officials have stated that they will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel until the Palestinians are granted an independent position.  ,
Before the brutal Hamas extremist attack on October 7, there were rumours last year that Indonesia was working on a package to normalize relationships with Israel, but Indonesian President Joko Widodo made standardization socially difficult. Some accounts claim that the Hamas attack took place just weeks before Widodo may have made an official statement of standardization with Israel.
A Muslim woman holds up a banner during a protest against Israel outside the U. S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, May 21, 2021. ( Dita Alangkara/AP )
Some claim that Hamas raped and murdered people out of fear that Israel was becoming too friendly toward Muslim countries, so the jihadists wanted an Israeli comment that would prevent further advancement. Joe Biden, the senator, is well-known among those watchers, who suggested immediately after the Hamas attack that the goal of the operation was to prevent growing relationships between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Israel ‘s , which allowed Indonesia to mate with Jordan to deliver relief supplies to Gaza on Tuesday, gave a hint that warmer ties with Indonesia might be in the air. Because Tuesday marked the start of the Muslim holiday’s Eid al-Fitr, the lose had symbolic value.
Prabowo Subianto, the approaching Indonesian leader, appears to be more open to normalization with Israel than Widodo, perhaps as a result of his desire to bolster American connections. Subianto campaigned for the purchase of more Israeli agricultural systems and meals. Subianto insisted when he was spotted conference with Israeli leaders in November that there was nothing wrong with him talking to Israelis about issues of national importance.
The potential standardization agreement’s timeline is still ambiguous, but a tidbit may be Japan’s upcoming OECD ministerial committee presidency in May. Since this year coincides with the 60th anniversary of Japan’s account, it would be a good time for Japan and Indonesia to create their dream come true. Japan has been pressed to find Indonesia into the organization for more than a decade. Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, struggling in the surveys, is very much in need of sacred events.
