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View all search resultsAnalysis: Death of peacekeepers forces Prabowo to rethink Middle East strategy
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President Prabowo Subianto (right) salutes the coffins of Indonesian soldiers killed while serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on April 4, at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten. (AFP/Yasuyoshi Chiba)
F
or months, President Prabowo Subianto has been crafting his own strategic approach to the Middle East, often departing from some of Indonesia’s traditional foreign policy principles, including on the question of establishing relations with Israel. Central to this strategy was joining the Board of Peace (BOP) set up by United States President Donald Trump in January, a move widely criticized at home as abandoning Indonesia’s long-held support for Palestinians in their long struggle for an independent state.
When Israel and the US launched coordinated attacks against Iran in late February, Prabowo remained adamant about Indonesia’s BOP membership. He even ordered the Indonesian Military (TNI) to ready some 8,000 soldiers to join the US-led International Stabilization Force (ISF) for deployment in Gaza to enforce peace in the tiny Palestinian enclave which had been devastated by more than two years of constant bombings by Israel.
Now the deaths of three TNI members who were part of the United Nations’ peacekeeping force in Lebanon may force Prabowo to rethink his entire approach to the Middle East.
Early investigations by the United Nations point the finger to Israel’s attacks in Lebanon as the cause of their deaths. Sending troops to Gaza could be a futile exercise, even described as suicidal by one critic, since this mission does not have the usual UN mandate.
Opposition to Prabowo’s novel approach to the Middle East is now growing among the general public when previously it had been confined to a small clique of Indonesia’s foreign policy community. He can no longer afford to ignore public opinion.
Prabowo, a former Army general, knows full well the risks that he is exposing Indonesian troops to if they are sent to Gaza. Before he commits more troops to the Middle East, the Indonesian public are demanding explanation and accountability for the deaths of three TNI members. Some have even called on the government to move out of harm’s way the remaining Indonesian troopers working for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), given Israel’s intensifying attacks in Lebanon.
The US war in Iran also exposed a major flaw in Prabowo's Middle East strategy. His initiative to offer to mediate peace immediately when the war started went largely ignored. In spite of his frequent trips to the Middle East to raise Indonesia’s profile in the region as peacemaker, he had completely ignored Iran. Instead, Tehran and Washington chose Pakistan, also a BOP member, to broker the two-week truce last week to avert a more catastrophic war.
