Indonesia is the latest country to condemn the planned West Bank annexation by Israel. Indonesia joins Jordan, the Arab League, the European Union and the United Kingdom in opposing the US-backed annexation proposal.
As the West Bank annexation by Tel Aviv nears, Indonesia is the latest country to condemn the planned action. The announcement from Jakarta comes after Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu announced earlier this week that Israel would not miss the ‘historic opportunity’ to annex the West Bank.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi spoke about the US-backed plan by Israel and reaffirmed its support for Palestine. “Indonesia is one of the strongest supporters of Palestine. We are very concerned about Israel’s West Bank plan,” Retno said on Thursday.
The 57-year-old diplomat from Semarang also confirmed that she spoke to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and asked for US assistance to stop the plan. “I told Secretary Pompeo that Indonesia’s position remains unchanged on the Palestine issue. Our hope is for the US leadership to stop Israel’s plan to annex more parts of the West Bank,” Retno said.
In addition to the chat with Pompeo, Retno also forwarded the issue at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Teleconference on Wednesday, arguing that international law compliance is needed to stop the plan.
“Compliance to international humanitarian law is desperately needed now as annexation and Covid-19 might soon strike the Palestinians all at once.’”The world and the council have to restore Palestinian rights to its territory according to the 1967 borders. We must not let further annexation to happen,” she added.
Indonesia has been vocal in its response to the West Bank annexation and stands by the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine dispute. The government has also written to the UNSC Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the European Union, countries of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to maintain peace in Palestine and support the two-state solution.
“Annexation will not only threaten peace and stability in the region but also undermine all efforts to reach a lasting political solution on the Palestinian issue, which is the two-state solution,” Retno said.
The West Bank is not officially recognised as Israeli territory since the international community deems the settlement a violation of international law. 500,000 Jews have settled in West Bank since 1967 and currently, the area is home to 2,000,000 Palestinians.
The West Bank annexation has the support of the Trump administration. The Middle-East Peace Plan was announced earlier this year by the U.S. and Israel, without the involvement of the Palestinians. Since then, the plan has been rejected by Palestine, Jordan, the European Union, the United Kindom and the Arab League.
