Oman and Indonesia could be the next likely candidates to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in the coming weeks, the Jerusalem Post reported Sunday, citing a diplomatic source.
Morocco was the latest Arab Muslim country to announce normalizing ties with Israel, joining the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan.
Bhutan also agreed to establish ties with Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night said Israel is also “in touch with additional countries that want to join and establish relations with us.”
Regional Cooperation Minister Ofir Akunis (Likud) told Army Radio that Vice President Mike Pence will visit Israel in early January and is set to announce another normalization deal then.
According to the diplomatic source, Oman and Indonesia are two countries that have been involved in intense negotiations about such a deal.
Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen also mentioned Indonesia in an interview with Army Radio.
However, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry denied the reports and reiterated its support for Palestinian statehood, CNN Indonesia reported.
Oman, too, has insisted that Palestinian statehood must come first. However, Muscat sent its ambassador to the Abraham Accords signing ceremony at the White House in September and on Friday welcomed Morocco’s “King Mohammed VI’s announcement about normalization with Israel.”
Oman’s foreign ministry said it hoped the latest agreement would “achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”
Netanyahu in 2018 travelled to Oman to meet with the late Sultan Qaboos. The two countries have a shared interest in the fight against Iranian hegemony.
While Israel and Indonesia do not have formal diplomatic ties, they cooperate in trade and tourism. Indonesia also purchased arms from Israel in the 1970s and 1980s, and Indonesian soldiers have trained in Israel, the Post reported.
In 1993, late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin met Indonesian president Suharto in Jakarta.
The Ynet news site reported that Saudi Arabia may also normalize diplomatic relations with Israel before Trump leaves office on January 20. However, the Jerusalem Post cited the diplomatic source as saying this was unlikely.