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View all search resultsRisky mission
Sending our brave soldiers to Gaza could put them in harm’s way given the still fluid and tense situation there.
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Indonesian police personnel who are part of a United Nations peacekeeping force shout slogans on July 1, 2024, during a ceremony commemorating the 78th Indonesian Police Day in Jakarta. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
P
resident Prabowo Subianto won international plaudits for offering to send 8,000 members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) to join the International Stabilization Force (ISF), which is part of the peace plan put together by United States President Donald Trump. In return for this offer, Indonesia, as the first nation to commit troops, will take the deputy commander role, second in charge to US Army Major General Jasper Jeffers III.
This may seem like a noble mission for the TNI, and some may argue that it is consistent with the constitutional mandate for Indonesia to actively participate in promoting global peace and justice. As a retired Army general, Prabowo of all people should know that sending our brave soldiers to Gaza could put them in harm’s way, given the still fluid and tense situation there.
And there is also the confusion about what exactly the ISF’s mandate is in Gaza.
This is definitely not the same as the United Nations peacekeeping mission for which Indonesia has had plenty of experience. Indonesia may have its own interpretation of what is expected of the TNI. The Foreign Ministry has insisted it is strictly a humanitarian and noncombatant force. Trump, who is really in charge, may have other ideas. The TNI may be entering a terra incognita.
The inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace (BoP) for Gaza in Washington last week, which Prabowo attended, unfortunately did not make matters clear about the ISF’s precise mandate and scope of work. Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania are other countries that have pledged to send troops.
The Indonesian leader has persuaded critics at home that joining the Board was the best and only way for the country to help find a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, starting with stopping the killings in Gaza. Sending the TNI to join the ISF further enhances Indonesia’s participation in the peace efforts. He insists Indonesia has not abandoned the objective of the exercise, which is to help Palestinians gain their independent homeland, side by side with Israel, under the two-state solution.
Critics also found many faults about Trump’s Gaza peace plan, including the BoP, which now consists of 27 member countries from about 65 that were invited. Interestingly but reflecting their skepticism, almost all US allies in Europe have declined the invitation. Russia, China, Australia, India and Japan have not responded.
