Jakarta: controversy over meeting between Nahdlatul Ulama delegates and President Herzog

Head of State Widodo also intervened in the affair, with a public criticism of the actions of members of the moderate Muslim organisation. Leader Nu apologised for ‘the incident’ and called the choice of ‘timing and manner’ ‘inappropriate’. The country's leadership confirmed its support for the Palestinian cause.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Controversy has flared up in Indonesia, fuelled by President Joko Widodo himself, who has not spared public criticism regarding the trip to Israel by five representatives of the Nahdlatul Ulama (Nu), the country's most important (moderate) Muslim organisation. The clash, and the accusations, were exacerbated by the delegation's meeting with Israeli Head of State Isaac Herzog, after which the movement's leader addressed his fellow citizens with a ‘public apology’.

Officially, Jakarta has no diplomatic relations with the Jewish State, but thousands of Indonesians - mostly Christians and Catholics - visit the Holy Land for pilgrimages or spiritual trips, others (but fewer) for holidays or business. Israeli visas can be easily obtained by all Indonesians thanks to the travel agencies at the Israeli embassy in Singapore. Nevertheless, even today, any visit to Israel by Indonesians, especially if characterised by meetings with local politicians or institutions, is viewed with suspicion, if not open hostility, and is a harbinger of criticism.

Attacks that have not spared the delegation of the moderate Muslim movement and have prompted its president to issue a public ‘apology’ for what he calls an ‘incident’. In a press conference held yesterday at the organisation's headquarters in downtown Jakarta, Yahya Cholil Staquf said: ‘As Nu president, I want to apologise for the visit of our five nahdliyin (members and followers) to Israel and for their initiatives in the country’. The moderate Muslim leader, in an implicit reference to the war in Gaza, added that ‘we fully recognise and admit that such a visit at this time is not appropriate’.

The five nahdliyin received by President Herzog in his office, although the date on which it took place is unclear, are: Zainul Maarif, Munawir Aziz, Nurul Bahrul Ulum, Syukron Makmun and Izza Annafisah Dania. Speaking to the Indonesian media, Staquf recalled that his visit to Israel in 2018 was also met with criticism, albeit in a personal capacity, well before he took office as Nu leader and in a ‘peaceful’ atmosphere after meeting with Muslim religious leaders and seeking their views. On that occasion, he had met with the then (and current) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Indonesia's leading interfaith activist Abdurrahman Wahid o Gus Dur also travelled to Israel in person in 1994. Before leaving for Tel Aviv, Gus Dur also paid a courtesy visit to senior Nu clerics, asking for their opinions. ‘The visit,’ Staquf continued in his speech, ‘did not cause any uproar within Nu, as Gus Dur shared his plan to visit Israel with the senior clerics and reported to them on his meetings with his Israeli counterparts on interfaith movements. While the visit of the five nahdliyin fits into a profoundly different framework from those of 2018 and 1994.

The dispute is also an opportunity to confirm Jakarta's strong support for Palestine and its cause. Nu leader Ulil Abshar Abdalla, despite his moderate political stance on many issues, argues that such a visit is not an ‘appropriate’ gesture at this time when the Jewish state is waging a ‘brutal war’ against Hamas in Palestine. According to its political stance on international issues, but especially on Palestine, Indonesia has always morally and politically supported its independence, as well as supporting the two-state solution as the way to end the regional conflict.

This rigid position was also reiterated yesterday by President Jokowi. Interviewed by the local media and showing deep irritation, the leader harshly criticised the trip of the five Nahdliyins and the meeting with Israeli President Herzog. ‘Regarding the trip, kindly ask the Nahdlatul Ulama and not me,’ Jokowi said, finally recalling that ‘Indonesia's foreign policy on the Palestinian issue has always been very clear: to support the independence of the Palestinian nation’.

• Israel
• Gaza
• war