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ilitary observer Connie Rahakundini Laspetrini says that in spite of major differences between Indonesia and Israel, both countries have a similar history in the formation of their militaries.

Israel’s military developed from Haganah, a paramilitary organization defending the incipient Israeli state as it struggled for existence between 1920 and 1948.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Military (TNI) developed in part from the PETA, a volunteer army fostered by the Japanese during their occupation of the then East Indies. PETA veterans later played a crucial role in Indonesia’s struggle for independence.

However, that is where the similarity end.

According to Connie, Indonesia would have to struggle to catch up to the capabilities of the Israeli military, which is three times larger than the TNI.

Connie said that Israel, with waters comprising only 2 percent of its area, has a stronger navy than Indonesia, an archipelagic nation. The Navy’s effective force was about two-thirds of Israel’s, which operates three submarines to guard its waters.

The poor performance of the TNI was attributed by Connie to a “lack of awareness of the country’s political elites about possible external threats” that led to insufficient funding of the nation’s defense and deterrence systems.

“Israel occupies a land that is only 1 percent of Indonesia’s total land area. Their population is less than 3 percent of Indonesia’s and also lacks natural resources. Indonesia has more than enough to build a strong military, but look at us, we are far behind a small country like Israel,” Connie said in her presentation to earn a doctorate in politics at the University of Indonesia (UI) on Wednesday.

Members of Connie’s committee included Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha, who is also a professor at UI; and Indonesia’s former representative at the UN Makarim Wibisono.

The title of her dissertation is “Development of State Power: Comparative Study of Indonesia and Israel based on Military Power”.

For her dissertation, Connie interviewed prominent figures in the defense sector including TNI chief Adm. Agus Suhartono; Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, former Israeli internal security minister Tzachi Hanegbi, Israeli Knesset lawmaker Yehuda Bein Meir and the director of the Israel-based Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), Oded Eran.

Connie, who is the executive director of Institute of Defense and Security Studies, said that for a country much smaller than Indonesia, Israel allocated US$15 billion, or 7.5 percent of its budget, for defense, while Indonesia had allocated only US$5 billion, or around 1 percent of its budget for the TNI.

The Israeli Defense Force (IDF), which comprises its air force, army and navy, fields one soldier for every 45 civilians and for 130 square meters of land, while the ratios for the TNI are one soldier for every 664 civilians and 5 square
kilometers.

The IDF also maintains 3,500 tanks and 460 state-of-the-art aircraft, while the TNI fields 405 tanks and 100 aircraft.

“Israel has this strong military power because their political elites are aware of possible threats from Palestinians and other Arabic nations,” Connie said.

“Indonesia, however, can’t decide if it has no threats, and therefore has stopped developing its defense systems.” (aml)