Israel and Indonesia, world’s largest Muslim state, scrap mutual ban on tourist visas

Israel reversed its ban on Indonesian tourists entering the country after Jakarta agreed to lift its prohibition on visas to Israelis.

By: World Israel News Staff

Israel canceled its ban on Indonesian tourists entering the country after Jakarta agreed to lift its moratorium on issuing visas to Israelis, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Indonesia, in protest of the IDF’s killing of Palestinians while defending its border with Gaza from Hamas-led riots, announced last month that it will no longer issue visas for Israelis in group tours. Israel responded by announcing a prohibition against Indonesian tourists. However, that ban never took affect.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted Wednesday morning that following “silent” contacts between the countries through international channels, “visa restrictions on Indonesian tourism to Israel were lifted, in parallel to lifting of restrictions by Indonesia on Israeli tourists. Good news.”

Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, and support for the Palestinians there is strong.

Braving criticism back home, Yahya Staquf, secretary general of the 60-million member Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, visited Israel this month as a guest of the American Jewish Committee, a US advocacy group that was holding a major conference in Jerusalem.

IndonesiaIsrael tourismIsrael-Gaza borderYahya Staquf