Govt backs down on Israel trade ties

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid on Thursday back- pedaled on his plan to open trade links with Israel, saying that he would only move forward after deep and lengthy studies.

"I will have to study it first," Abdurrahman said during an unprecedented policy debate with the House of Representatives.

"This will be a long process," he added.

The plan to open trade ties with the Jewish state, revealed by the President only a day after his Oct. 20 election, has been widely criticized as an affront to the Muslim population.

A number of DPR members raised their objections during a debate which was originally called to discuss the closures of the Ministry of Information and Ministry of Social Services.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab confirmed afterwards the government's decision to delay opening trade ties with Israel "until such a time is possible."

"The plan was really an appeal. It was never a government policy," Alwi told reporters after attending the policy debate.

He also assured the reporters that the government would only move forward in consultation with the House.

The President, a prominent Muslim scholar, had said that having commercial ties with Israel would give Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, a leverage to lobby the Jewish state in the peace process in the Middle East.

Alwi had also argued that commercial ties with Israel would give Indonesia access to Jewish-controlled American corporations and could therefore help in Jakarta's efforts in drawing foreign investors back to Indonesia.

The original plan had called for an immediate exchange of trade delegations between Indonesia and Israel.

The proposal was a major departure for Indonesia's long standing policy regarding Israel, which was to insist on Israel's compliance with all the UN's Security Council resolutions, including the return of all Arab lands occupied since after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Both Abdurrahman and Alwi have said Indonesia would never open diplomatic ties with Israel until the Palestinian and the entire Middle East conflict was resolved.

Yasril Ananta Maharuddin, the chairman of the House's Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs, confirmed that Alwi had informed him of the decision.

"He told me that the government would suspend the establishment of trade ties with Israel until conditions permitted them," Yasril said.

"The bottom line is relations won't be established now," he said, adding: "Hopefully, this will end the polemic in the public." (02/emb)