Indonesia has condemned Israel’s latest strikes on Lebanon, rightly calling them violations of international law and attacks on civilians. Hundreds have died. Thousands have been displaced. Entire neighborhoods lie in ruins. Hospitals are overwhelmed. UN peacekeepers are under fire. This is not a border skirmish. It is a deliberate campaign of domination. And yet, Indonesia continues to speak as if Israel could be a partner for peace.

Israel’s military operations make one thing painfully clear: it does not want coexistence. Gaza has been flattened repeatedly. Settlements carve the West Bank into disconnected fragments. Now Lebanon faces bombardment that expands regional instability. Civilians, not combatants, are the primary victims. Force—not negotiation—is Israel’s chosen strategy.

And still, Indonesia clings to the two-state framework. President Prabowo Subianto insists that peace requires both Palestinian independence and guarantees for Israel’s security. This is not balance. It is a dangerous delusion. Promising to secure Israel while it levels civilian neighborhoods signals moral confusion at best, complicity at worst.

Indonesia’s anti-colonial legacy demands more. The republic was born fighting foreign domination. Its constitution commits the state to defending the oppressed and opposing colonialism. For decades, Indonesia has championed Palestinian self-determination. Yet diplomatic language that treats Israel as a future partner in peace while bombs rain on Lebanon undermines that legacy.

The two-state solution is dead on arrival. Israel’s policies—settlements, blockades, and military campaigns—systematically destroy the political and territorial conditions necessary for a Palestinian state. Lebanon is the latest evidence. Each destroyed neighborhood, each displaced family, each civilian casualty is proof that Israel cannot be trusted to negotiate in good faith. Diplomacy cannot succeed when one side’s strategy is domination.

Indonesia should continue condemning violations of international law and defending the safety of UN personnel. But condemnation alone is not enough. Jakarta must confront reality: Israel does not want peace. Vowing to protect Israel’s security while it perpetuates war undermines justice and strengthens oppression.

Lebanon’s devastation is a warning. Every airstrike, every ruined home, every fleeing family exposes the falsehood behind the two-state illusion. Indonesia cannot speak of peace while defending the security of a state whose policy is war. Moral clarity is overdue. Words must be backed by recognition of reality: Israel’s wars are not accidents. They are the blueprint for permanent domination.

Lebanon is a reminder that force, not negotiation, defines Israel’s policy—and that Indonesia must rethink its assumptions if it hopes to remain a credible voice for justice.

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