INDONESIAN DEFENSE MINISTER TALKS ABOUT NORMALIZATION WITH ISRAEL THROUGH AGRICULTURE

By LAHAV HARKOV

Numerous reports, meetings, and statements in the recent months of 2021 show that Indonesia and Israel, the world's two largest Muslim countries, are getting closer.

Agriculture cooperation, under the direction of Jakarta-based Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, has recently improved relations between Israel and Indonesia.

Israel and Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, are getting closer, according to several recent statements, meetings, and reports in recent months of 2021.

Although the two countries do not have formal diplomatic relations, they do cooperate in trade and tourism, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a Facebook account in Indonesian.

Indonesia bought weapons from Israel in the 1970s and 1980s, and Indonesian soldiers trained in the Jewish state. In 1993, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin held a meeting in Jakarta with President Suharto. In 2016, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely—now the British ambassador—said that Israel was still in contact with the multi-island countries of Oceania and hoped to establish official relations with them.

In December 2020, the Trump administration spoke with Jakarta to normalize relations with Jerusalem, and the US PBI offered to double its investment in Indonesia, but to no avail.

"It's a long process," the official said. "There was one meeting and then another, an unmarked plane and all the cinematic stuff that went with it—and then, one day, it happened."

Some of those secret meetings came from an unexpected source: an agricultural collaboration.

Subianto announced that he plans to run for president of Indonesia in 2024. A source familiar with the situation stated that Subianto sees Jerusalem as a starting point for better relations with Washington, as do many leaders of Arab and Muslim countries pursuing ties with Israel.

However, the presidential candidate has collaborated with Jerusalem over the past few months on agriculture and food security.

SHUMUEL FRIEDMAN has worked at the Indonesian agricultural R&D center. He was an agricultural consultant, businessman, and senior adviser to former Agriculture Minister Yair Shamir.

Subianto is one of the project's partners and another who draws on Israeli agricultural know-how.

Friedman stated this week, "Food security for a nation is no less important than security itself, and [Subianto] totally agrees with me on that. [That's what we know—how to carry it." It doesn't matter where it comes from, because in the end, we bring results and see farmers happy.

Friedman stated that he was aware of the ongoing normalization talks between Jerusalem and Jakarta but that he was not involved in politics.

"Not with weapons, but with food," he said. "I believe that relations between countries need to start there, with food security."

Joey Allaham, a Damascus-born businessman based in New York, was Friedman's business partner. He is perhaps best known for founding Prime Grill, a luxury halal restaurant. In 2017-2018, he lobbied the Qatari government for the American Jewish community, invited prominent figures from the community to Doha, and secured funding from Qatar for pro-Israel organizations.

However, Allaham also does business in Indonesia and the Middle East and seeks to help Israelis find new markets. He has helped Friedman and Subianto work together.

In October 2020, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Allaham and Minister of Marine Affairs and Investment of Indonesia, gave 15,000 units of Israeli-made anti-COVID-19 nasal spray, Taffix, to Indonesian healthcare workers and military personnel.

In early 2021, Allah intends to change Israel-Indonesia relations from trade and agriculture to diplomacy.

He arranged a meeting between personal assistant Subianto Sudaryono B. Eng and Israeli intelligence agents in Budapest in May through his business contact, who is a former senior IDF intelligence officer.

Israel and Indonesia then moved on to higher-level relations, including a meeting in Paris, from there.

Israel also intends to send a COVID-19 vaccine to Indonesia in 2021. Jakarta hesitated to accept the offer after Operation Guardian of the Wall, the Gaza war, in May. However, they are willing to continue normalization talks outside of public view.

In the following months, Washington participated more.

A source familiar with the conversation stated that the Biden administration is very optimistic that Israeli-Indonesian normalization will succeed.

"I believe this is the future,” the source said.

News Sources : https://www.jpost.com/international/article-692184