Defense Minister's Spokesman: No Imports on Israel-made Weapons

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia has imported arms and ammunition products - under the SITC classification - from Israel in 2020 that amounted to a total of US$1.32 million. Tempo confirmed this to the Defense Ministry spokesperson Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak, who asserted that it was not imported under the Ministry’s authority. 

“There were no procurements from the Defense Ministry,” said Dahnil as Tempo reached him on May 19.

The talks on import activity re-emerged as the deadly conflict between Israel and Palestine intensified for the past few days. A call for a boycott against Israel's products was also voiced by the National Indonesian Youth Committee (KNPI) deputy Amin Ngabalin who pitched the idea during a rally at the United States Embassy in Jakarta on May 18, as stated by Antaranews.

So far, Indonesia has no official trade relations with Israel. When Jokowi called for a similar boycott in 2016, the Trade Ministry had explained that Israel-made products that exist in Indonesia entered through a third-country import trade. 

Reported earlier today, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data shows that Indonesia imports Israel products in five main standard international trade classifications. One of which is arms products and ammunition (code SITC 891) with a total import value in 2020 reaching US$1.32 million or roughly Rp18.6 billion with current exchange. 

Read: Indonesia Imported US$1.3 mln Israel-made Weapons in 2020

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