The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied seeking to normalize relations with the Israeli occupation in exchange for membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in response to Israeli reports that indicated “Jakarta agreed to this diplomatic swap.”

These reports quoted unidentified Israeli officials as saying that Indonesia held talks during the last three months with Israel, mediated by the Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Mathias Cormann, in order for Israel to stop obstructing Indonesia’s accession to the International Economic Organization in exchange for establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries. .

In response to these reports, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, said in statements to the Indonesian press that “the path of his country’s accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development will take a long time,” indicating that a road map in this regard is supposed to be adopted next month.

He stressed that his country does not yet have a plan to normalize relations with Israel, especially in light of the scenes of Israeli atrocities in Gaza, and reiterated Indonesia's firm position in its support for the independence of Palestine, the two-state solution, and the Palestinian people's full rights.

In response to the Israeli reports, Vice Chairman of the People's Consultative Council, Hidayat Nur Wahid, called for "unifying the Indonesian ranks in supporting Palestine instead of becoming victims of the Israeli media," stressing that Indonesia's position is clear in rejecting the Israeli occupation.

In a speech before the People's Advisory Council earlier this month, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi criticized the position of countries that sought to normalize relations with Israel.

Marsudi said, "Today we see hypocrisy and double standards as a collective position at the international level towards the issue of Palestine. Even the countries that historically supported and helped the Palestinians, one after another, with pragmatic interests normalized their relations with Israel, before achieving the independence of the State of Palestine. They chose to stand with the strong and not They sided with the weak, and they forgot the values of humanity and charity.”

It is noteworthy that Indonesia, if it joins the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development - whose membership includes 38 countries and constitutes about 43% of the global gross domestic product - will be the first member country from the Southeast Asian region or from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the third. Asia after Japan and South Korea.