Indonesia's president-elect, Prabowo Subianto, said during the annual Shangri-La Dialogue Asian security conference that his nation was willing to send peacekeeping troops to Gaza to maintain a cease-fire if needed. He said U.S. President Joe Biden's three-phase proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza was a step in the right direction.
"When needed and when requested by the U.N., we are prepared to contribute significant peacekeeping forces to maintain and monitor this prospective ceasefire as well as providing protection and security to all parties and to all sides," Prabowo said.
He also said his country was willing to take in 1,000 Gazan refugees and provide them with medical care, and that the violence in the Strip must be investigated.
Prabowo, currently defense minister, takes over the presidency of the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation in October.
Ynet revealed last month that after secret negotiations, an agreement to normalize ties with Israel was reached, clearing Indonesia's path to join the OECD, but when the war broke out in October, thousands of Indonesians protested against Israel, waving Palestinian flags and carrying photos of dead Gazans. One sign showed a picture of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the devil's horns on his head and the caption "Israel is a terrorist.
The negotiations began under the previous Indonesian government. Now, the president-elect, who had been a senior military officer and who was discharged over alleged human rights violations and had been banned from entry to the U.S., will have to resume the talks.
Dr. Gioa Eliraz from "The Forum for Regional Thinking said Subianto had harsh criticism for Israel but added that he was careful to avoid inciteful rhetoric. In 2021 he reportedly met with the then-head of Israel's National Security Council on the sidelines of a conference in Bahrain and was also seen then, talking to an Israeli diplomat. In a statement at the time, he said such conversations were not prohibited if they serve the national interest of Indonesia.
As an outspoken member of the opposition in 2018, Subianto who had the support of Islamists in his country, was not afraid to speak out against them. He was also less critical than the ruling government at the time, of Australia's stated intent to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to locate its embassy there.
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Pro-Hamas demonstrators burn an Israeli flag in Indonesia in October 2023
(Photo: Dita Alangkara / AP)
"Diplomatic relations between Israel and Indonesia are unlikely before a normalization agreement is reached with Saudi Arabia," Eliraz said. " Such a move by the guardian of Islam's most holy sites may temper Islamist concerns over a shift in the government's position toward Israel," he said.
"There are still substantive questions that must be resolved primarily whether Indonesia would deviate from its decades-long policy to forge full diplomatic relations with Israel only after the establishment of a Palestinian state, or if only a perceived shift in Jerusalem toward the possibility of such a state, would suffice."