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Kalla as Mideast peace envoy: Opportunity for Nobel recognition?
Can Indonesia succeed in international peacebuilding, with a leadership and outreach role in the Israel-Palestinian peace process among a range of other Muslim-majority mediators such as Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates — all of which already have close governmental relations with Israel?
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Former vice president Jusuf Kalla (JP/Seto Wardhana)
I
ndonesia has a high-potential, but time-sensitive opportunity to capitalize on its hard-won seats at United Nations Security and Human Rights Councils. The recent announcement of United States President Donald Trump administration’s Mideast peace proposal, fluid domestic politics in the US and Europe, Israeli election uncertainties, and continued internecine Mideast regional rivalries all cry out for a new third-party mediator and bridge-builder between the Israelis and Palestinians.
There has been clear disappointment expressed by the 2019 election activists supporting both presidential candidates for significant change, as reflected in President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo’s second-term cabinet choices.
However, the choice of including senior opposition figures in Jokowi’s cabinet, as per classic Javanese consensus, offers an opportunity for innovation in foreign policy — particularly the impartial mediation and negotiations for the Israel-Palestinian peace process.
Such an effort can also deflect international criticism of Indonesia’s perceived human-rights double standards in Papua, thus providing the Jokowi administration more time and geopolitical capital to address longstanding accusations of ethno-religious majoritarianism and similar shortcomings.
One foreign policy question worth asking is: Does the most recent Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali — who maximized dialogue and concessions to negotiate a sustainable peace agreement with former adversary state Eritrea — offer an exemplary model for Indonesia? As the Nobel Peace Prize Committee declared in recognizing Abiy’s outreach efforts, “A peaceful, stable and successful Ethiopia will help to strengthen fraternity among nations and peoples in the region.”
But where is Indonesia’s Abiy? Can Indonesia succeed in international peacebuilding, with a leadership and outreach role in the Israel-Palestinian peace process among a range of other Muslim-majority mediators such as Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates — all of which already have close governmental relations with Israel?
As of October 2019, former vice president Jusuf Kalla could ostensibly continue his retirement after two distinguished vice presidencies and a successful entrepreneurial career, after leading the world’s third-largest democracy. However, there are at least three reasons for considering that he be appointed to the designation of Indonesia’s Middle East Peace Envoy.
