Coordinator of President Jokowi's special aides Ari Dwipayana said in a statement that no deal had been struck between Indonesia and Israel on the establishment of diplomatic relations.

"The information is completely incorrect," Ari said in a statement late last week.

Ari was referring to a dispatch published by the Israeli newspaper Jewish Insider on Feb. 28 that Israel and Indonesia had planned to announce the establishment of diplomatic relations in October 2023, a move that was delayed by the Hamas terror attack on Israel and subsequent war in Gaza.

In an article titled "Israel, Indonesia were on track to normalize ties before Oct. 7: sources", the news outlet claims that Israel’s then-foreign minister Eli Cohen and President Jokowi’s office approved a final draft of an agreement for the Jewish state and Indonesia to exchange trade offices, as a first step toward full diplomatic relations.

Jewish Insider reported that October 2023 was a likely date for the official announcement, in conjunction with a planned meeting of the Negev Forum in the middle of the month, though November, when Jokowi visited the White House, was also under consideration.

The news outlet also claimed that Andi Widjajanto, a senior adviser to Jokowi, and Ronen Levy, then the director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and one of the key Israeli players in the Abraham Accords, met in Jerusalem in September, along with Dan Shapiro, who at the time was the State Department’s senior advisor for regional integration.

Ari added that President Jokowi never dispatched any special envoy to hold talks with Israel.

"The President is only represented by the statements and stance of the foreign minister," Ari said, referring to Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi.

The Jakarta Post contacted Andi for a comment, but had not received responses as of the writing of this article.

Read also: Israel must withdraw without preconditions, Retno insists

Yon Machmudi, a Middle East expert from the University of Indonesia, called for an investigation to scrutinize the recent claims, including the photo showing Andi and Israeli officials, given that it is illegal for Indonesian officials to visit states not recognized by Jakarta.

A staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, Indonesia has always been vocal in its stance against establishing any formal diplomatic relationship with Israel. Despite such persistence, it is widely believed that informal engagements between Jakarta and Tel Aviv have been ongoing for years, especially in the economy, security and military fields.

Experts previously suggested that these informal ties were highly unlikely to morph into an official relationship. The recognition of Israeli statehood could spark a political crisis in Indonesia, they concurred, where the Palestinian cause has always been the strongest and most consistent at the grassroots level.

Yon acknowledged that conversations about diplomatic normalization could happen via informal engagements between Indonesian and Israeli officials facilitated by a third party. But it remained unclear whether there was any real political will from Jakarta to change the diplomatic status quo.

“I’m very sure that nobody in the Indonesian government expected such a report or photo to be publicized,” Yon told the Post. “It’s possible that Israel [leaked] these reports to divide the Indonesian public since Jakarta has been quite harsh in its statements against Israel.”

“Either way, what was discussed needs to be scrutinized. The Indonesian government has always kept a tight lid on these matters,” he continued.

A similar report surfaced among Israeli media in July last year, suggesting that Tel Aviv officials had engaged with their Indonesian counterparts to discuss the possibility of Jakarta signing the Abraham Accords.

First spearheaded by former United States president Donald Trump, the agreement sought to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel, with some Middle Eastern countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Morocco signing the accord.

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry, however, swiftly rebutted the claim, underlining that there had not been any such dialogue and suggesting that reports saying otherwise were “most likely a media-framing stunt by Israel”.

Read also: Indonesia decries ‘geopolitical nightmare’ ahead of ICJ appeal

In the past five months, Indonesia has been intensifying its diplomatic efforts to defend the rights of Palestinian sovereignty. Such efforts included Minister Retno attending the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion hearing in late February, where she accused Israel of “manipulation of international law” in pursuit of its “colonial project”.

The spike in Indonesia’s diplomatic efforts came after the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas, which was followed by months of military reprisals by Tel Aviv.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have died since Israel launched the attack on the enclave, according to the latest statement from the Hamas-run Gaza Health ministry. Dozens of countries have accused Israeli military actions in Gaza as being genocidal in nature, pointing to high civilian casualties.

Experts pointed out that there had been no indication of Indonesia changing its stance on Israel in the near future, with President Jokowi pledging to promote the Palestinian cause during the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne, Australia on Monday. (yve)

Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional expert comments.

Popular

PDI-P will likely be part of opposition: Ganjar

Indonesia one step from Olympics after beating South Korea

Bahlil leads task force to boost sugar, bioethanol production in Papua