After months of Indonesia denying outright that it would be willing to accept Gazans on its territory, President Prabowo announced today that his country has changed its mind and will initially accept "temporarily" about a thousand wounded and orphans from Gaza.
What brought about this change and why now?
In my opinion, this is an Indonesian attempt to make a gesture to get closer to the Trump administration in light of his tariff plan. The American president imposed a high tariff of 32% on Indonesia. Indonesia's local currency, the rupiah, collapsed and trading on the Jakarta stock exchange yesterday was temporarily halted after a sharp drop of about 9%.
The American tariff poses a significant threat to Indonesia's economy, one of the 20 largest in the world. The government in Jakarta announced that it will not respond to Trump's steps and is interested in dialogue to reach agreements.