Israeli elected officials came to Indonesia on an official visit for the first time in nearly 30 years on Monday.MKs Avi Dichter (Likud) and Nira Shpak (Yesh Atid) led an Israeli delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Bali. They met with parliamentary members from around the world and represented Israel as the future of Ukraine and the Middle East were discussed.Dichter was elected to head an IPU committee on fighting terrorism.Israel does not have relations with Indonesia, which was visited by then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1993.A recent series of meetings, statements and reports in the last few months of 2021 indicate that Israel and Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim state, have grown closer.
The Israeli delegation met with Emirati MPs during the conference:
The Indonesian delegation said that the IPU delegates should work towards a fully independent Palestinian state. Last year it was unsuccessful in gaining support for that resolution.
The Kuwaiti representative demanded that Israel be expelled from the IPU altogether at a sidelines meeting of Arab states at the conference, saying that it was hypocritical for the IPU to expel Russia and not Israel. This speech was greeted with cheers from various anti-Israel groups. The Algerian delegate made a similar point.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the conference is the absence of a Palestinian delegation altogether. Usually the PA is eager to attend any international gathering to appear like a real functioning state. They attended last November's meeting in Madrid. In 2018, their delegation successfully passed an anti-Israel resolution.
I could not find any mention or explanation of the absence in Palestinian media. This may mean that there was some embarrassing infighting going on concerning the conference that the Palestinian media wants to keep quiet.
(h/t Tomer Ilan)
