Indonesia reiterates support for Palestine amid Prabowo’s appearance in Israel campaign
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Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto appeared on a billboard advertisement featuring world leaders, which carried messages supporting US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza.
PHOTO: ABRAHAMIC SHIELD OF THE COALITION FOR REGIONAL SECURITY/X
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JAKARTA – Indonesia has reaffirmed its support for Palestinian statehood in response to the appearance of President Prabowo Subianto in billboard advertisements in Tel Aviv promoting a peace plan to end the war in Gaza
In a statement issued on Sept 29, its Foreign Ministry reiterated that any change in Indonesia’s official position towards Israel would only begin with the latter’s recognition of Palestinian independence and sovereignty.
“Indonesia’s position is very clear that there will be no recognition or normalisation with Israel, whether through the Abraham Accords or any other platform, unless Israel first recognises an independent and sovereign Palestinian state,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yvonne Mewengkang said in the statement.
The ministry issued the statement following pictures circulating online showing billboard advertisements featuring figures of world leaders, including Mr Prabowo, Mr Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and leaders of other Middle Eastern countries.
Along with the photo, the advertisement also carried messages that read: “Mr President, Israel stands by your plan. Seal the deal” and “Israel says yes to Trump plan. Get it done.”
The photos were first posted on social media platform X by the Abrahamic Shield of the Coalition for Regional Security, an initiative of Israeli security, policy and economic experts, which urged the Israeli government to support Mr Trump’s proposal for peace between Israel and Palestine.
The group called his proposal “a serious and responsible path to turn Israel’s military gains into a strategic diplomatic through and create a new reality in Gaza, without Hamas”.
It also called for the expansion of the Abraham Accords, a deal for the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Israel and some Middle Eastern countries, including Bahrain and United Arab Emirates, spearheaded by Mr Trump in 2020 during his first presidency.
Indonesia’s latest position on the conflict in the Middle East was conveyed by Mr Prabowo during his addresses at several UN General Assembly meetings in the US last week.
During a meeting co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and France to discuss the two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, Mr Prabowo emphasised that ending the war in Gaza, which the UN recently labelled as genocide, must be the world’s utmost priority.
He also reiterated the importance of the two-state solution, in which the world must guarantee statehood for Palestine. He declared that once Israel recognises Palestinian independence, Indonesia will immediately recognise the state of Israel and support all guarantees for the security of Israel.
In a separate speech on Sept 26, Mr Netanyahu praised Mr Prabowo’s speech, while rejecting the two-state solution approach.
“I took note, as I’m sure you did too, of the encouraging words spoken here by the President of Indonesia,” Mr Netanyahu told the empty UN General Assembly, as most delegates of other countries had walked out of the room when the Israeli leader took the stage for his address.
“This is the country with the world’s largest Muslim population of all nations. It’s also a sign of what could come,” he continued.
He added that “forward-looking Arab and Muslim leaders” knew the advantage of cooperating with Israel: access to ground-breaking technologies, including in medicine, agriculture and defence.
On the sidelines of the UN meetings, Mr Trump hosted a meeting with leaders and officials from multiple Muslim-majority countries, including Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, to “get the hostages back and get the war over and get back to life”, the US leader said in his opening speech during the meeting.
Foreign ministers of countries whose leader attended the meeting with Mr Trump issued a joint statement on Sept 29, welcoming his leadership and “his sincere efforts” to end the war in Gaza and asserting their confidence in his ability to find a path to peace.
They suggested points to be included in the agreement to end the war, including no displacement of the Palestinians and a security mechanism guaranteeing both sides’ safety alongside Israeli withdrawal.
They also pushed for the two-state solution, “under which Gaza is fully integrated with the West Bank in a Palestinian state in accordance with international law”, underlining it as a key to achieving regional stability and security.
Mr Trump met Mr Netanyahu at the White House in Washington on Sept 29, after which the Israeli leader said he supports the plan to end the war in Gaza, adding that the plan “achieves our war aims”.
Mr Netanyahu also said it would advance regional peace: “I believe that today we are taking a critical step towards both ending the war in Gaza and dramatically advancing peace in the Middle East and I think beyond the Middle East, that is very important Muslim countries.” THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
