Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom took his call for normalization of ties with the Islamic world directly to the Indonesian people Monday, becoming the first Israeli minister to have an op-ed piece published in an Indonesian newspaper.

In the piece that appeared in the English-language Jakarta Post, Shalom wrote "Israel does not see Islam as an enemy and has never seen it as such. On the contrary, history has shown us that Jews and Muslims lived in peace, harmony and friendship for many years in the past. This should be the aim in the future." Following the start of a public dialogue with Pakistan in late August, Indonesia – the world's largest Muslim state – was widely expected to be the next Islamic country to begin developing ties with Israel. Shalom met his Indonesian counterpart at the United Nations last month, but that meeting, unlike one he held with his Pakistani counterpart a few weeks earlier in Turkey, was closed to the press.

Diplomatic sources said that the idea to have Shalom write an opinion piece in the paper was a "joint" one, facilitated by Israel's ambassador in Singapore. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country.

Shalom wrote that "Israel's drive for peace and good relations does not end with its immediate neighbors. We seek good relations with all nations. At this time of renewed hope for progress towards peace in the Middle East, we believe that the time is ripe to promote dialogue with all countries."

Shalom added that at a time when Israel has open contacts with the Palestinians, and enjoys peaceful relations with Egypt and Jordan, "there is no reason for other Islamic countries to persist with the boycotts of the past."

According to Shalom, one of the challenges Israel faces in building these ties is that the Islamic world has a distorted picture of Israel born of decades of misinformation about Israel "often designed to foster hatred and to incite violence and hostility against us." Shalom wrote that Israel is an "open, democratic and pluralistic society in which multiculturalism is an inherent part of daily life." He pointed out Israeli achievements in high-tech, medicine and scientific research which Israel shares with many countries. "We are happy to do the same with Indonesia," Shalom wrote.

Israeli and Indonesian officials have had a degree of contact over the years. In January, following the tsunami disaster, Foreign Ministry director-general Ron Prosor met with senior Indonesian officials after accompanying an El Al plane laden with 75 tons of aid for Indonesian tsunami victims.

Shimon Peres visited there in the summer of 2000, when he was regional cooperation minister, and met with then president Abdurrahman Wahid, with whom he had struck up a relationship. Wahid is on the international board of the Peres Peace Center.

Peres's visit was preceded by a trade delegation, and an Indonesian trade delegation came to Israel. These types of contacts, however, were frozen after the outbreak of Palestinian violence in September 2000.

Yitzhak Rabin paid a surprise visit there in 1993, on his way back home from a visit to China.