NEED TO KNOW

• Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto told more than 160 Islamic leaders Thursday he will withdraw from Trump's Board of Peace if it fails to deliver meaningful benefits for Palestinians
• All Board of Peace discussions have been suspended since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began Feb. 28, Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono has confirmed
• Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority nation and agreed to contribute troops to the Gaza stabilization force — a decision that has drawn fierce domestic criticism

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (TDR) — President Prabowo Subianto moved Friday to contain growing domestic unrest over Indonesia's participation in President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, pledging to withdraw from the Gaza reconstruction platform if it fails to advance Palestinian interests — even as the Iran war has brought the board's agenda to a complete standstill.

Prabowo's Pledge to Islamic Leaders

Prabowo gathered the heads of Indonesia's major Islamic organizations at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Thursday evening, where he defended the country's decision to join the board and laid out the conditions under which he would exit it.

"Supporting the struggle for Palestinian independence is at the core of Indonesia's decision to join the Board of Peace." — President Prabowo Subianto, per Indonesian Ulema Council Deputy Chair Cholil Nafis

Hanif Alatas of the Islamic Brotherhood Front said the president had been direct about his red line.

"Prabowo will withdraw from the board if it does not benefit Palestinian and Indonesian interests." — Hanif Alatas, Islamic Brotherhood Front

The meeting drew more than 160 Islamic clerics and group leaders, reflecting the depth of concern among Indonesia's religious establishment. The Indonesian Ulema Council, one of the country's most influential clerical bodies, has declared the Board of Peace "ineffective" and urged the government to redirect its diplomatic efforts through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the United Nations instead. MUI Deputy Chair Nafis said the council doubts the platform's initiators demonstrate "good intentions or track records."

The Iran War Has Frozen the Board

The immediate context complicating Prabowo's balancing act is the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, now in its seventh day. Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono has confirmed that all Board of Peace discussions are on hold for the duration of the conflict. Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's largest Muslim organization with an estimated 90 million members, suggested Jakarta use the pause as leverage.

"Indonesia could declare that the board's agenda is on hold until there are talks on de-escalation and peace from the American-Israeli war against Iran." — Yahya Cholil Staquf, Nahdlatul Ulama chief

The Board of Peace was formally launched at Davos in January 2026 and held its inaugural meeting in Washington on Feb. 19, where member states pledged $7 billion toward Gaza's reconstruction and five countries — including Indonesia — committed troops to an International Stabilization Force. Trump chairs the board and holds sole authority over membership, charter revisions and succession. As of early March, 25 of the 62 invited countries had signed its charter. Most major Western European nations — including the U.K., France, Germany and Italy — have declined to join, citing concerns the board could undermine the United Nations.

The Domestic Political Stakes

Indonesia's participation has been politically sensitive from the start. The country has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel and has long positioned itself as one of the Palestinian cause's most consistent advocates in the developing world. Protesters demonstrated outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta on March 3, holding signs calling Prabowo a "puppet of the U.S." Some carried placards demanding the government cancel its troop commitment to the Gaza stabilization force.

Analysts have described Prabowo's positioning as a dual strategy — maintaining engagement with Washington while reassuring a domestic constituency for whom Palestinian statehood is a near-sacred diplomatic commitment. Whether the approach holds depends largely on whether the Board of Peace resumes, what it produces, and whether any of it visibly benefits Palestinians on the ground.

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The MUI's position draws a sharper line, arguing that participation itself — regardless of outcome — compromises Indonesia's credibility.

"We consider the Board of Peace ineffective because its initiators do not demonstrate good intentions or track records." — Cholil Nafis, Indonesian Ulema Council

What the Board Was Built to Do

Under Trump's 20-point Gaza plan, the Board of Peace is meant to oversee a Palestinian technocratic governing body — the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza — and coordinate international reconstruction funding. Jared Kushner unveiled plans at the Feb. 19 meeting to transform Gaza's coastline into an investment hub, describing the beachfront as "worth $50 billion." Neither the Palestinian Authority nor the Palestine Liberation Organization attended the inaugural session. The board's charter makes no direct mention of Palestinian statehood — the core demand that Indonesia and most Arab member states have conditioned their participation on advancing.

That gap between the board's stated mission and its governing structure is precisely what Indonesia's Islamic groups are pointing to. For Prabowo, the Iran war has bought him time. But time is not a policy — and the question of what the Board of Peace actually delivers for Palestinians will eventually require an answer.

If the Board of Peace resumes with the Iran war unresolved and Palestinian statehood still absent from its charter, will the Muslim-majority nations who joined it have the political standing to stay — or the leverage to change it?

Sources

This report was compiled using information from Reuters via Al-Monitor, ANTARA News, Modern Diplomacy, NPR's Board of Peace coverage, the White House and Britannica on the board's structure, analysis from the Institute for National Security Studies and Better World Campaign, and CBS News on the Iran war.

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