Jakarta. An analyst said Thursday that Indonesia should think twice about joining the Gaza security force that US President Donald Trump had pitched, citing concerns over Jakarta being the “face of new colonialism” in the war-torn enclave.

Trump, who has his eyes on a Nobel Peace Prize, has pitched a 20-point Gaza peace plan. One of the points proposes the establishment of the International Stabilization Force (ISF) to demilitarize the Gaza Strip. This force will unite troops from both the US and other partner countries. In his annual press statement, Foreign Minister Sugiono reaffirmed Indonesia’s support for the ISF, which he said would only be temporary. Muhammad Waffaa Kharisma, an international relations expert at think-tank CSIS, cautioned that Jakarta should be extra careful before sending its military men. 

“We need to review the ISF plan very carefully. … Trump’s plan might seem multilateral by involving Muslim nations, but the legitimacy does not only come from the actors in the room. We have to see how [the ISF] will be on the ground,” Waffaa told a presser in a commentary to Sugiono’s foreign policy speech.

“Because this puts the burden of the conflict on the occupied, and less on the occupier or Israel. If we send troops without a strong legitimacy, the Indonesian forces will be the face of an illegitimate initiative, especially if it is not accepted by the Palestinians,” he said.

Waffaa also warned that Indonesian troops — despite the good intent of promoting Palestinian independence — could become a “target”.

"We [Indonesia] must not become the face or extension of the new colonialism," he said.

The researcher noted some possible shifts in Indonesia’s approach to the Gaza situation. Indonesia has been putting more focus on “legal opinions”, according to Waffaa, alluding to when Jakarta denounced Israeli occupation at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in February 2024. However, Indonesia is now taking a role in conflict management, as seen in Jakarta backing Trump’s ISF proposal.

“It gives off that Indonesia is jumping on Trump’s bandwagon. To be fair, it’s not just Indonesia, as many countries are ‘worried’ about being on Trump’s radar. … But we are not a cowardly country. We have a tradition of being a powerful country,” Waffaa said.

At present, the Indonesian side has yet to reveal how many men Indonesia will dispatch to the ISF. A day earlier, Sugiono said that Indonesia had been “actively participating in the discussions to establish the ISF as a transitional step" towards a permanent ceasefire between Israeli forces and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The ISF is also expected to open up humanitarian aid access.

“However, the ISF is only a temporary instrument. Peace through the two-state solution remains the end goal,” Sugiono told a room full of reporters and ambassadors.

This solution sees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside that of Israel.

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