No diplomatic ties with Israel: RI

No diplomatic ties with Israel: RI

Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia will not establish diplomatic ties with Israel unless
peace is established in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Hassan
Wirayuda has said.

"Our position is very clear: We want a peaceful settlement in
the Israel-Palestinian conflict and we expect Palestine to be
able to establish its own independent state and live peacefully
side by side with Israel," he told reporters on the sidelines of
a meeting about security in the Strait of Malacca here on
Wednesday.

Hassan was commenting on reports that Israel was trying to
revive low-level ties with Muslim nations that have been largely
dormant during more than four years of the conflict, and it was
also trying to establish new ones.

Israel made progress last week when Foreign Minister Silvan
Shalom met publicly for the first time with his Pakistani
counterpart, Khursheed Kasuri.

However, Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said there
would be no full relations with Israel until a Palestinian state
is set up, AP reported on Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Silvan Shalom is also planning a visit
to Tunisia in November to participate in a UN conference.

Hassan said that as of Wednesday, he had not received any
messages from Israel on the latter's intentions.