Israel Begins Open Recruitment in Indonesia
Israel has begun openly promoting cooperation with Indonesia. Through the Zionist institution in Tel Aviv, the Israel-Asia Center, Israel has published the Israel-Indonesia Future 2027 cooperation programme. The programme aims to recruit people from various fields in Indonesia in an effort to open diplomatic relations with Israel.
“Israel-Indonesia Future Programme: Engaging new and established leaders to build bridges and shape the future of Israel-Indonesia,” read the promotion quoted from the Israelasiacenter.org website on Tuesday (25/8/2026). The recruitment was announced openly and will begin in September 2026.
According to the portal, the Israel-Indonesia Future Programme 2027 is part of a continuing campaign to gain acceptance for Israel in countries that have so far rejected the establishment of the Zionist state on the occupied land of Palestine. The campaign is said to be part of the Abraham Accords, which have been promoted since 2020 by Israel and the United States.
Under the Abraham Accords, several Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East that had previously not recognised Israel agreed to grant recognition. The first countries to sign the Abraham Accords and recognise the illegal Zionist state of Israel included the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, followed by Morocco and Sudan in 2021.
Before those countries agreed to the Abraham Accords, Israel had also succeeded in bringing other Muslim-majority countries to open diplomatic offices with each other, such as Egypt, Jordan and Turkey. This was followed by Israel’s diplomatic normalisation with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Senegal, Albania and Kosovo. However, the strengthening of recognition of Israel has not been fully successful.
Two major Muslim-majority countries remain targets for normalisation but have not yet been achieved: Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. In September 2023, Israel, through the United States, persuaded Saudi Arabia to sign the Abraham Accords and begin diplomatic relations. For Israel, successful normalisation with Saudi Arabia would have an impact on Indonesia’s openness to joining the Abraham Accords.
“Normalisation of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia will most likely lead to a process of normalisation between Israel and Indonesia,” stated Israelasiacenter.org. Israel blamed the delay in talks with Saudi Arabia and Indonesia since 2023 on the situation and pressure from armed resistance factions in Gaza, Palestine, who are fighting Israeli occupation. “The events of 7 October 2023 carried out by Hamas were a direct attempt to derail the normalisation talks,” the website stated.
However, according to Israel, there are strong signals from Saudi Arabia to begin discussing the Abraham Accords. Meanwhile in Jakarta, Israel believes the government of President Prabowo Subianto has also given strong signals for cooperation. Israel is confident that the opening greetings in President Prabowo’s state speeches are a signal of openness to cooperation between Indonesia and Tel Aviv.
“The positive attitude and the message of ‘shalom’ delivered by President Prabowo at the United Nations General Assembly last year provide hope for a better future between Israel and Indonesia,” Israel stated. Through Israel-Indonesia Future 2027, the programme offers to open constructive dialogues to build bridges between Israel and Indonesia.
“This is to address the most pressing challenges today, such as in food and water, energy, health services, financial inclusion, education, and cross-cultural understanding between Israel and Indonesia,” the portal said. In the programme, Israel believes that there have in fact already been individual interactions between Indonesian citizens seeking to create beneficial change with Tel Aviv.
“Therefore, our cooperation activities aim to develop the foundation that has been built to realise a shared future, where there is mutual understanding and partnership between the governments and societies of Israel and Indonesia to realise the future of both nations in the fields of innovation and technology, business, education, culture, and interfaith relations, and for the benefit of Israel and Indonesia,” wrote Israelasiacenter.org.
The Times of Israel reported that the Israel-Indonesia Future Programme 2027 is not new. Authorities in Tel Aviv have long worked hard to make Indonesia one of the main target countries for normalisation. The Israel-Indonesia Future Programme idea has been realised since 2022. At that time, around 100 Israelis and Indonesians met in Jakarta to take part in the cross-sector cooperation programme.
“The Israel-Indonesia Future Programme is an online initiative that enables young leaders from Israel and Indonesia to work together to find solutions to the future challenges of both nations,” wrote the Times of Israel in August 2022. “Around 100 Israelis and Indonesians participated in Israel-Indonesia Future (2022), which included participants from various backgrounds to discuss the Start-Up Nation Central partnership programme. The meeting initiative also aimed to address the challenges of entrepreneurship in Indonesia in accessing resources and business development in Israel,” wrote the Times of Israel.