In a press conference at NU headquarters in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, Yahya apologized to the public and described the visit of the five young activists as “inappropriate” and “tone-deaf”.

“We understand that this is something that crossed the line in the context of the current situation [between Israel and Palestine],” Yahya said.

He said the visit was made without the endorsement of either the NU executive board (PBNU) or other NU institutions, of which the activists are members.

“The actions these kids took were their own responsibility and not those of the PBNU nor the institutions under that office,” Yahya said, noting that every collaboration between NU members and any entities outside of the organization, domestic or international, has to go through the executive board.

Over the weekend, a post shared by an NU activist Zainul Maarif, also a lecturer at an NU university, on his now-private Instagram account made the rounds on the internet after it showed him and several Indonesian citizens posing with Herzog at his official residence in Jerusalem.

The post was met with outrage, prompting NU headquarters to publish a statement on Sunday condemning the visit as being “ignorant of the organization’s collective sentiment”.