President Joko Widodo has declared that he hopes to strengthen relations between Indonesia and America on economic, democratic and multilateral terms.
A part of this idea involves potentially supporting the United States under the presumptive president-elect Joe Biden in resolving the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. Throughout his election campaign, Joe Biden made clear that in his presidency, he hopes to support Israel and Palestine in negotiating a diplomatic route.
Dina Sulaeman, a Middle East Political Observer from Padjaran University, noted that Joe Biden being president of the United States would worry Israel since President Trump had openly siding with Israel. Sulaeman observed that Joe Biden will likely push for the resolution of the conflict between the two countries.
Middle East political observer from the University of Indonesia, Muhammed Lutfi Zuhdi, has noted that Joe Biden is likely to encourage a two-state solution, while President Trump has advocated for a one-state solution in favour of Israel.
According to the Executive Board, at the moment, Indonesia is pushing for Palestine to be a sovereign state and is prepared to take a role in voicing the defence of Palestine again. Faishal Zaini, The PBNU Secretary-General, believes Indonesia’s voice will be heard because of Indonesia’s position as the country with the largest Muslim population of the world.
“We hope that Indonesia will be firmer in pushing for Palestine as a sovereign state and make a more conducive decision with Palestine,” said Faishal.
The PBNU has also expressed that they hope the election of Joe Biden as president of the United States will build relationships across Islamic countries to combat Islamophobia in Western countries.
Source: BBC Indonesia