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In a post on Instagram, Zainul said they talked about the conflict between Hamas and Israel and Indonesia’s relations with Israel.
The post sparked public outrage and condemnation, forcing Zainul to disable the comments section on his account. He later deleted the post.
Ms. Huliye, a politics lecturer at the University of Indonesia (who, like many Indonesians, goes by only one name), said the visit had caused such a strong reaction because “it took place against the backdrop of genocide by Israel, which the Indonesian government condemns.”
Some 39,000 people have died in Palestine since October, according to local health authorities.
Professor Asep Saepudin Jahar, rector of Jakarta’s Islamic State University and an expert in the sociology of Islamic law, said members of the National Alliance lacked sensitivity to the wider political situation.
“Visiting Israel is a controversial thing (for Indonesians) even when there is no war, let alone during a war or during attacks on Palestinian citizens.
“They don’t understand that they are being used or that the situation is being politicized because it looks like Israel wants to gain the support of Indonesian Muslims (by bringing in members of Israel’s National Unity Alliance),” he said.
On July 16, NU General President Yahya Cholil Staquf held a press conference at the organization’s headquarters in Jakarta to apologize for the uproar.
“Whatever happened, as the general president of NU, on behalf of NU members, I apologize to the wider community for the mistakes that were made.
“Hopefully they (the wider society) are willing to forgive. Hopefully this won’t happen again,” said Mr Yahya, who was publicly criticised in 2018 for meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Since the five hold different positions within the National Congress party, Yahya said he would let the relevant parties decide how to deal with the individuals who travel to Israel.
Sukron told CNA that the trip was entirely initiated by civil society and was not funded by the Israeli government.
“We went to Israel not only to visit the president, but also to conduct many other activities to help us better understand the situation and possibilities for Indonesian civil society to help.
“From our perspective, since Indonesia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, civil society must make concrete contributions to stop the war, or at least reach a ceasefire agreement between the conflicting parties, because the victims are always civilians,” he said.
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