Reprisals against Australia over its decision to consider relocating its Israeli embassy risk becoming a feature of Indonesia’s forthcoming election campaign, the government has been warned.
The fresh warning came as Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the national interest, not the views of Indonesia or any other country, would determine whether Australia relocated its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The Australian Financial Review understands that during talks in Jakarta on Monday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo told Malcolm Turnbull that if the proposal remained on the table, it would become a feature between the two main rival parties in the run up to Indonesia’s general elections in April.
“Widodo made that clear. Reprisals will become a domestic political issue,” said a diplomatic source familiar with the contents of the conversation.
While Mr Joko understood there was a domestic political imperative behind Mr Morrison’s embassy pledge, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, with whom Mr Turnbull met on Tuesday, is much more agitated.
Read the article by Phillip Coorey in the Australian Financial Review.