There was news in Israel today:
Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, will normalize ties with Israel in exchange for Jerusalem’s approval of its request to join the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), following three months of discreet negotiations between the two countries and the organization, Ynet learned on Thursday."I am pleased to announce the Council has officially agreed to the clear and explicit early conditions according to which Indonesia must establish diplomatic relations with all OECD member countries before any decision is made to admit it to the OECD,” OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann wrote in a letter issued two weeks ago to Foreign Minister Israel Katz and approves by Indonesia beforehand.
Most Indonesian media ignored the story, but an Indonesian business publication seemed to welcome it, calling it "exciting:"
Membership in the OECD is believed to have a positive influence on the Indonesian economy because it can increase investment from OECD countries by up to 0.37% and increase GDP by up to 0.94%. For this reason, Indonesia prefers not to be included in the BRICS group of countries pioneered by China. BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (South Africa).
But then it said that the country's foreign ministry denied the whole thing:
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed the issue that Indonesia would normalize diplomatic relations with Israel so that it could be accepted as an OECD member. "I emphasize that up to now, there are no plans to open diplomatic relations with Israel, especially in the midst of the current situation of Israeli atrocities in Gaza," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lalu Muhamad Iqbal in his statement on Thursday evening. He emphasized that Indonesia's position has not changed and remains firmly in support of Palestinian independence within the framework of a two-state solution. "Indonesia will always be consistent and be at the forefront of defending the rights of the Palestinian people," he said. Regarding Indonesia's membership in the OECD, Iqbal said that the process would take quite a long time.
