Commentary: Prabowo needs a world position for Indonesia – and for himself | USAEMALL.com

A REALIST

Mr Prabowo’s interest in geopolitics is not new. As defence minister (from 2019 to 2024), he drew fire after pitching a controversial peace plan for the war between Russia and Ukraine at the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2023.

His proposal included the creation of a demilitarised zone and an eventual United Nations-sponsored referendum in the “disputed territories”. Ukraine’s then foreign ministry spokesperson, Oleg Nikolenko, rejected it outright, saying there were no disputed territories and that Russia’s withdrawal from all the occupied territories was non-negotiable.

That episode revealed Mr Prabowo’s realist outlook and the priority he gives to hard power in international relations over international laws and conventions.

That posture has continued into his presidency.

During a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Jakarta in May, he declared: “We must acknowledge and guarantee Israel’s rights as a sovereign country,” adding a caveat that “Indonesia has stated that once Israel recognises Palestine, Indonesia is ready to recognise Israel”.

No previous Indonesian president has dared to offer an explicit promise to recognise the state of Israel, let alone throwing in some form of security guarantee.

Yet, apart from his blunt language, Mr Prabowo had in fact barely shifted Indonesia’s traditional stance vis-a-vis Israel. It has been a key element of its foreign policy to withhold diplomatic recognition and avoid ties with Tel Aviv as long as there is no independent Palestinian state.

Now he has appeared to make, by the tone of his language at least, Palestine’s independence a foreign policy priority. He has, moreover, signalled his willingness to work with Israel to achieve this objective, even if he has never elaborated how.

In April, Mr Prabowo underlined his resolve to nudge along a resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict by offering to temporarily shelter 1,000 Palestinians impacted by the war in Gaza. If carried out, this will represent Indonesia’s most concrete commitment to the Palestinian cause to date.