Israel and Indonesia are starting to get somewhat friendlier:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the establishment of official diplomatic relations with Indonesia on Monday, as the world’s largest Muslim country continues to look eastwards to boost diplomatic and economic ties.

Indonesia, which has a population of approximately 250 million people, making it the most populous Muslim country in the world, does not yet have formal relations with Israel…

As part of Israel’s bid to increase its security and economic prosperity in the region, Netanyahu has proceeded with a policy of pragmatism, seeking to boost ties with other Arab and Muslim countries.

“It’s time for there to be official relations between Indonesia and Israel. We have many opportunities for bilateral cooperation, especially in the fields of water technology and high-tech,” he told a visiting delegation of Indonesian journalists on Monday.

But Netanyahu faces a tough task. One of the reasons for the lack of public relations thus far between Israel and Indonesia, similar to Egypt, is that the Indonesian population has a negative view of Israel. A 2014 BBC poll showed that some 75 percent of the Indonesian population holds a negative view of Israel.

I have no idea how this will play out, but I consider it interesting. It’s pretty clear, also, that it’s at least in part a pragmatic response to deteriorating relations between Israel and Western Europe

By the way, Israel is already buddies with India, another “I” country. On the other hand, with Iraq and Iran…nope.