US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan arrive for a meeting at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment in Jakarta, Indonesia December 14, 2021. Olivier Douliery/Pool via REUTERS

i24 News – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised the issue of normalizing relations with Israel during a visit last week to Indonesia, according to a report by journalist Barak Ravid at the Walla! News site.

Senior Israeli officials told Ravid that Blinken raised the prospect of joining the Abraham Accords at the highest levels of the Indonesian government while in the capital Jakarta.

However, according to these officials, no immediate breakthrough is expected.

An Israeli diplomat met last month with Indonesia’s defense minister at an international event in Bahrain, Israeli media reported.

The meeting between Itay Tagner, Israel’s chargé d’affaires in the Gulf state, and Prabowo Subianto took place on the sidelines of the 17th IISS Manama Dialogue in the Bahraini capital of Manama.

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim-majority country and has been mentioned as a potential addition to the Abraham Accords that include the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

Previous reports indicate that the Biden White House is actively pursuing opportunities to expand the circle of Arab and Muslim countries with diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.

Other countries mentioned as possibly next in line for normalization with Israel include Saudi Arabia, Comoros, Tunisia, Oman, Qatar and Malaysia.

“We are always trying to explore new opportunities for normalization, but we will leave these discussions behind closed doors until the right moment,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told Walla! News.