Three Israeli representatives are attending the annual international realtors conference this week, after months of being denied permission to enter Indonesia, where the conference is being held.
The Jewish Week, of Washington, D.C., reported that the Israelis were granted the visas “as a result of pressure” from The National Association of Realtors, an American organization. The Israeli Mission to the United Nations confirmed the report.
The American organization, one of 41 being represented at the annual world congress of the International Real Estate Federation, was guaranteed four years ago, when Jakarta was chosen as the conference site, that the Israelis would be granted visas, according to sources cited in the Jewish Week. Indonesia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
In recent weeks, however, when the Israelis’ visas were being held up, the U.S. organization sent letters of protest to the Indonesian embassy in Washington and to the Indonesian representative to the UN expressing its “concern and displeasure over the delay,” according to the Jewish Week. The visas were to be issued through the Israeli embassy in Singapore, according to the Jewish Week report.
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