US Offering Indonesia Billions to Normalize With Israel

 

Deal could follow pattern of US rewards for normalizing ties with Israel

Dave DeCamp 

Posted onDecember 22, 2020CategoriesNewsTagsIndonesia, Israel

The US is offering billions in financing to Indonesia if the Asian country agrees to normalize relations with Israel, part of the Trump administration’s last-minute push to secure more normalization deals.

An official from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) said talks are ongoing and that the US could more than double its current $1 billion portfolio if Indonesia develops ties with Israel.

“We’re talking to them about it,” DFC Chief Executive Officer Adam Boehler said in an interview on Monday. “If they’re ready, they’re ready and if they are then we’ll be happy to even support more financially than what we do.” According to Bloomberg, Boehler said the DFC could boost its funding to Indonesia by “one or two more billion dollars.”

The US has been giving countries generous rewards for agreeing to normalize with Israel, like the $23 billion weapons package for the UAE and the recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara. The US also removed Sudan from the terror list after Khartoum agreed to normalize.

Trump administration officials have said they expect more countries to agree to normalize with Israel before Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20th. Some officials hope Saudi Arabia and Oman will be next, although the Saudis are expected to hold out for a while unless the US offers a generous enough reward.

https://news.antiwar.com/2020/12/22/us-offering-indonesia-billions-to-normalize-with-israel/