Israel Sent Independence Congratulations to Indonesian President
Israel reportedly sent congratulatory messages to Indonesian President Soekarno shortly after Indonesia obtained recognition of sovereignty from the Netherlands on 27 December 1949.
The messages were sent by Israeli President Chaim Weizmann and Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. However, the congratulations were ignored by the Indonesian government, even though recognition from other countries was important for Indonesia as a newly sovereign state.
In the 2005 study “Indonesia and Israel: A Relationship in Waiting”, Greg Barton and Colin Rubenstein revealed that the incident occurred in December 1949, when President Weizmann and Prime Minister Ben-Gurion sent telegrams to Soekarno and Vice President Mohammad Hatta.
The telegrams contained congratulations on Indonesia’s success in obtaining recognition of sovereignty from the Netherlands on 27 December 1949. However, the messages were ignored.
Israel subsequently tried again to open communication with Jakarta. This time, the Israeli government explicitly declared full recognition of Indonesia’s sovereignty.
The message eventually received a reply from Mohammad Hatta. Hatta expressed thanks but did not grant reciprocal diplomatic recognition to Israel.
“Hatta responded to Israel’s letter with thanks, but was unwilling to establish diplomatic relations,” they wrote.
Israel’s efforts did not stop there. In May 1950, the Israeli government sent another letter to Indonesia. This time, Israel offered assistance to Indonesia, which was building its government after the war of independence.
The offer also did not change the Indonesian government’s position.
Indonesia’s stance towards Israel and the Palestinian issue had indeed been formed since the early days of independence. The position was based not only on foreign policy considerations but also on the anti-colonial principle enshrined in the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution.
“That independence is the right of all nations and therefore colonialism must be abolished in this world, as it is not in accordance with humanity and justice,” states the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution.
This principle became one of the foundations of Indonesia’s stance on the Palestinian issue. For the Indonesian government, the Palestinian struggle was also linked to the rejection of colonialism.
This stance became even more apparent during the Soekarno era. At the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference, Indonesia did not invite Israel and instead gave space to the Palestinian struggle.
Several years later, a similar stance was seen at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta. The Indonesian government refused the presence of the Israeli delegation at the sporting event.
This series of events shows that Israel’s various attempts to approach Indonesia in the early years of independence failed to open diplomatic relations between the two countries. To this day, Indonesia and Israel do not have official diplomatic relations.