Jakarta. US President Donald Trump has promised to keep Israel in check, according to his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto, as Jakarta continues to defend its decision to join the controversial Gaza peace board.

In a recent interview with senior journalists and analysts, Prabowo explained the backstory to Jakarta’s membership in the Trump-led Board of Peace. Trump framed the group’s purpose as bringing peace to Gaza and assisting its reconstruction. However, the two-month-old group is now under fire even more than ever after its chair Washington joined with Israel to launch strikes on Iran, even earning the nickname “bored of peace”.

Before the board took shape, Trump had presented his plan on ending the Gaza war to Prabowo and seven other Muslim-nation leaders in New York last September. The other countries in question were Qatar, Jordan, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. Prabowo recalled that the leaders were mainly accepting of the plan. But they were dubious about Israel’s peace commitment — a point that the 8-strong group’s spokesperson and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani had raised during the meeting.

“Emir Tamim [told Trump] that ‘we like your plan. But the problem is not us. The problem is Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu of Israel’,” Prabowo said.

“I remember Trump immediately looked straight at us. Emir Tamim was sitting next to me. Trump told us: 'Let me take care of Netanyahu. I will convince him.’ So he [Trump] had given us an assurance that he would guide Netanyahu.” 

And it only took about a week for Trump to get Netanyahu to back the peace plan, thereby opening doors for Gaza aid inflows and a long-awaited ceasefire that Prabowo said had greatly slashed the death toll “despite truce violations”.

Earlier in the interview, Prabowo admitted that the US was “the only one that could restrain Israel”. As Trump proved his influence over Netanyahu, he clinched the UN Security Council’s approval to set up the Board of Peace. It was then that Indonesia discussed with the same group of Muslim-majority countries whether the board was worth a shot. 

“We came to the conclusion that we could perhaps influence and help Palestinians by joining the [Board of Peace]. We know it would not be easy. But if we are inside, we can help the Palestinians. This would not be possible otherwise.”

All eight aforementioned countries are now the board’s founding members. The same goes for Israel. 

Prabowo stated that Indonesia would not hesitate to drop out if the Gaza peace board no longer serves Palestinians.

“Indonesia shall quit the Board of Peace if there is no hope and its missions are counterproductive. We will step away from the group if it becomes a waste of time and energy and does not serve our national interests. … I would not even wait for the 7 other countries to make the decision,” Prabowo said. 

The Indonesian leader later admitted that the US-fueled Iran war was a “very strong indicator” for Jakarta to reconsider its seat. However, Indonesia still wants to hear inputs from other partners, such as Jordan.

The US has long been Israel’s biggest ally, even vetoing Gaza-related resolutions at the UN Security Council. 

Israel’s recent bombing of Iranian facilities linked to South Pars — the world’s largest natural gas field — has unveiled cracks in Netanyahu-Trump relations.

In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump wrote that the US “knew nothing” about the strike. He also wants “no more attacks” by Israel on the gas field, unless Tehran fires strikes on Qatar. Statements by Israeli officials suggested otherwise, claiming that the Trump administration had approved the South Pars attack, according to news outlet Axios.

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