Jakarta. The Foreign Affairs Ministry quickly denied media reports of President Prabowo Subianto planning to visit Israel.

The Times of Israel reported that Prabowo would set foot in Israel on Tuesday local time, citing an unnamed source familiar with the details. Prabowo is currently in Egypt for a summit that will zero in on US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan. The Indonesian government immediately slammed the media report hoax.

“There are no such plans as reported,” Foreign Affairs Ministry’s spokesman Vahd Nabyl A Mulachela said on Monday, when asked by the Jakarta Globe about the Israel visit.

The ministry said that Prabowo would fly back home right after the Gaza summit in Egypt.

Prabowo recently appeared in Tel Aviv’s electronic billboards, which fueled speculations of normalization. The campaign urged support for Trump’s initiative to end the Gaza war, as well as the expansion of the Abraham Accords. This is a set of Trump-brokered agreements that saw Muslim-majority countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), forming diplomatic ties with Israel. 

The nationwide campaign also came not long after Prabowo made his UN debut speech in which he restated Jakarta’s willingness to open diplomatic ties with Israel, only if it recognizes an independent Palestinian state.

“I took note, and I’m sure you did too, of the encouraging words spoken by the president of Indonesia,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told an empty UN General Assembly hall a few weeks ago.

“This is the country with the largest Muslim population of all nations. And it’s also a sign of what could come,” Netanyahu said, alluding to his hopes for Jakarta to strike a normalization deal.

Despite the lack of formal relations, Indonesia is still quietly trading with Israel. Trade Ministry data showed that Indonesia’s Israel-bound exports totaled $164.2 million between January and August 2025. Bilateral trade amounted to $190.4 million over the same period.