JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia has begun training a contingent of up to 8,000 soldiers it plans to send as part of an international peacekeeping force to Gaza, the first firm commitment to a critical element of U.S. President Donald Trump's postwar reconstruction plan.
Indonesia has experience in peacekeeping operations as one of the top 10 contributors to United Nations missions, including in Lebanon, and has been deeply involved in providing
humanitarian aid to Gaza, including funding a hospital.
But many Indonesians are skeptical of President Prabowo Subianto 's plans to join Washington's proposed Board of Peace and participate in the International Security Force with only vague details so far on how they will operate, seeing it as simply kowtowing to Trump's agenda as the two countries negotiate a trade deal.
“We need to be careful to ensure that our military personnel are not supporting the Israeli military forces," said Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, a Middle East expert with Jakarta's Center of Economic and Law Studies. "We need to be careful that our military forces are not fighting against wrong actors.”
U.N. peacekeeping forces all have clear and strict mandates, but since the Board of Peace and ISF will operate outside the U.N., many wonder how the troops will be used, and who will pay for them. Last year's ceasefire agreement broadly says that the ISF will “provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza” and will “work with Israel and Egypt to help secure border areas.”
Indonesia currently is paid by the U.N. for the troops it sends to serve as peacekeepers, but people fear it will have to pick up the tab for the troops sent to Gaza, as well as a possible $1 billion payment for a permanent place on the Board of Peace, as outlined in a draft charter.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country and firmly supports a two-state solution in the Mideast, and officials have justified joining the Board of Peace by saying it was necessary to defend Palestinian interests from within, since Israel is included on the board but there is no Palestinian representation.
“Indonesia sees the importance of the involvement of the parties to the conflict as part of the process towards peace,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yvonne Mewengkang said this week.
She said Indonesia would use its membership to “ensure that the entire process remains oriented towards the interests of Palestine and respects the basic rights of the Palestinian people, as well as encouraging the realization of a two-state solution.”
The Jakarta Post slammed that kind of reasoning in an editorial, however, saying that an “independent Palestinian state, if it emerges at all, is likely decades away.”
“Indonesia will end up paying $1 billion long before any meaningful outcome is achieved,” Abdul Khalik wrote. “And if Indonesia eventually withdraws in frustration, it will have already spent vast resources; financial, diplomatic and political, for nothing.”
The Board of Peace was initially envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing Trump's plan for Gaza’s future. But the U.S. president has since said he sees the board as a mediator of worldwide conflicts, sidestepping the mandate of the U.N.
Prabowo, a former army general who has been keen to raise Indonesia’s profile on the world stage, quickly accepted Trump's offer for a place on the Board of Peace and made an initial pledge of 20,000 Indonesian troops as peacekeepers during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly.
An online petition started by a group of Muslim scholars and activists questions joining a body that ostensibly promotes peace, but whose proposed chairman for life will be Trump, citing his threats to take Greenland, the seizure of then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and the American veto of a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a Gaza ceasefire last year.
“In our belief, peace will be difficult to achieve by a country or a leader of a country who repeatedly uses his veto power to prevent the occurrence of peace itself,” reads the petition, which calls for Indonesia to withdraw from the Board of Peace and has gotten more than 9,000 signatures so far.
“The BoP faces serious legitimacy problems, both normatively, structurally and morally.”
About 100 protesters against Indonesia’s involvement gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta on Friday, holding signs with slogans like “Bored of peace?” and “Free Gaza.”
Earlier this week, Indonesian Army Chief of Staff Gen. Maruli Simanjuntak said that training had begun for the peacekeepers, even though Indonesia has yet to receive any guidance on what types of personnel were needed.
He said Indonesia now envisions sending between 5,000 to 8,000 troops.
“We have started training personnel who might later serve as peacekeepers,” he said. “So that means engineering, medical units - the types often deployed.”
Despite the skepticism at home, the idea of Indonesians serving as peacekeepers in Gaza is seen in the region as a good one, said Hassan Jouni, a Qatar-based analyst who was formerly a Lebanese army general. Indonesia, he said, is viewed as an “honest and acceptable broker” by both sides in the conflicts in Lebanon and Gaza.
“Indonesia is a Muslim country... and its religious identity gives it a large distinction in its security participation as part of the peacekeeping forces in the Arab region,” he said. “At the same time, it does not pose a strategic threat to Israel.”
While Indonesia and Israel do not have formal diplomatic ties and Indonesia has been supportive of the rights of the Palestinians, it has not taken a directly confrontational stance toward Israel similar to some other Muslim-majority powers such as Turkey and Iran.
“From this point of view, the participation of Indonesian forces in southern Lebanon comes in a balanced and effective manner,” he said, and it may be expected to do the same in Gaza.
Many are looking for clarity toward the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace next week in Washington, where other countries are expected to announce troop commitments of their own.
Prabowo plans to attend in person and is expected to also sign the new trade deal while there, and the Center of Economic and Law Studies' Rakhmat said he didn't think he would be swayed by public sentiment.
“I don't think the domestic opposition would significantly change the decision of Indonesia in joining the BoP,” he said.
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Rising reported from Bangkok. Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this story.
