REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia should ignore Israel's wish to have diplomatic relations with Indonesia, because the Jewish nation is still colonizing Palestine, an Indonesian legislator has said.
"I think up to know the Republic of Indonesia has never recognized the existence of the Israeli state, and indeed there is no need to do so," El Nino M Husein Mohi of the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party said here Thursday.
He praised President Joko Widodo for calling for a boycott of Israeli products produced in occupied Palestinian land during a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held in Jakarta recently.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a group of five senior Indonesian journalists on March 28 that it is time for Israel and Indonesia to establish full diplomatic ties.
He hoped that the visit by journalists will pave the way for establishing ties with the world's most populous Muslim country, Netanyahu said.
The five journalists from Kompas, Tempo, Metro, Jawa Pos and Bisnis Indonesia visited Israel at the invitation of the Israeli foreign ministry, despite the absence of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Israel.
In line with Indonesia's Constitution, UUD1945, Indonesia is against colonialism on Earth and therefore the nation refuses to recognize Israel as long as Israel maintains its occupation and colonization of Palestine.
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