VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Last Sunday (29/4), Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe started his trip to the Middle East by visiting the United Arab Emirates -UAE. After meeting the officials of the UAE, including the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, PM Shinzo Abe continued his goodwill visit  to Jordan on Monday (30 April). In addition to visiting  the two countries, PM Zhinso Abe's mission was to meet Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, and Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas. PM Abe said that his Middle East mission's priority this time is for peace. For Japan, the Middle East region is very important to maintain the continuity of energy supply to Japan. The trips  to the Middle East had been done several times by  PM Zhinso Abe. It should be noted that this was  the  first visit of  a major state’s leader  to Palestine and Israel, after the United States recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital. To Prime Minister Netanyahu, Prime Minister Abe expressed his interest to increase Japanese investment in Israel. In addition, the two countries agreed to open a Japan-Israel direct flight. PM Netanyahu welcomed Japan's plan to increase Japanese investment in Israel. Before meeting PM Netanyahu, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, West Bank. If in the  meeting with PM Netanyahu, he discussed the improvement of economic ties. With President Abbas, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe emphasized Japan's plan to keep the current Japanese Embassy Office in Tel Aviv, and not to transfer it to Jerusalem. To President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Abe expressed Tokyo's support for Palestinian independence within the two-country framework. For PM Abe, the dispute over the status of Jerusalem must be resolved by dialogue between Israel and Palestine. Prime Minister Abe's visit is considered positive in a bid to achieve peace in the Middle East region. Indeed, this region is still turbulent compared to the decline in tension in the Korean Peninsula. Indonesia supports every step taken to bring peace in the Middle East. More specifically, the two-state solution presented by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is  similar to what Indonesia has been proposing.