Military observer Connie Rahakundini Laspetrini says that in spite of
major differences between Indonesia and Israel, both countries have a
similar history in the formation of their militaries.
Israel’s
military developed from Haganah, a paramilitary organization defending
the incipient Israeli state as it struggled for existence between 1920
and 1948.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Military (TNI) developed in
part from the PETA, a volunteer army fostered by the Japanese during
their occupation of the then East Indies. PETA veterans later played a
crucial role in Indonesia’s struggle for independence.
However, that is where the similarity end.
According
to Connie, Indonesia would have to struggle to catch up to the
capabilities of the Israeli military, which is three times larger than
the TNI.
Connie said that Israel, with waters comprising only 2
percent of its area, has a stronger navy than Indonesia, an archipelagic
nation. The Navy’s effective force was about two-thirds of Israel’s,
which operates three submarines to guard its waters.
The poor
performance of the TNI was attributed by Connie to a “lack of awareness
of the country’s political elites about possible external threats” that
led to insufficient funding of the nation’s defense and deterrence
systems.
“Israel occupies a land that is only 1 percent of
Indonesia’s total land area. Their population is less than 3 percent of
Indonesia’s and also lacks natural resources. Indonesia has more than
enough to build a strong military, but look at us, we are far behind a
small country like Israel,” Connie said in her presentation to earn a
doctorate in politics at the University of Indonesia (UI) on Wednesday.
Members
of Connie’s committee included Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin
Pasha, who is also a professor at UI; and Indonesia’s former
representative at the UN Makarim Wibisono.
The title of her
dissertation is “Development of State Power: Comparative Study of
Indonesia and Israel based on Military Power”.
For her
dissertation, Connie interviewed prominent figures in the defense sector
including TNI chief Adm. Agus Suhartono; Defense Minister Purnomo
Yusgiantoro, former Israeli internal security minister Tzachi Hanegbi,
Israeli Knesset lawmaker Yehuda Bein Meir and the director of the
Israel-based Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), Oded Eran.
Connie, who is the executive director of Institute of Defense
and Security Studies, said that for a country much smaller than
Indonesia, Israel allocated US$15 billion, or 7.5 percent of its budget,
for defense, while Indonesia had allocated only US$5 billion, or around
1 percent of its budget for the TNI.
The Israeli Defense Force
(IDF), which comprises its air force, army and navy, fields one soldier
for every 45 civilians and for 130 square meters of land, while the
ratios for the TNI are one soldier for every 664 civilians and 5 square
kilometers.
The IDF also maintains 3,500 tanks and 460 state-of-the-art aircraft, while the TNI fields 405 tanks and 100 aircraft.
“Israel
has this strong military power because their political elites are aware
of possible threats from Palestinians and other Arabic nations,” Connie
said.
“Indonesia, however, can’t decide if it has no threats, and therefore has stopped developing its defense systems.”
