Merince Kogoya, a Miss Indonesia 2025 contestant, disqualified after a two-year-old video of her expressing support for Israel goes viral.
A contestant in the Miss Indonesia 2025 pageant, Merince Kogoya, representing Highland Papua, was disqualified during the quarantine phase after a two-year-old video of her expressing support for Israel surfaced and went viral over the weekend, The Independent reported on Tuesday.
The video, reportedly filmed while Kogoya was studying abroad, shows her holding and waving an Israeli flag while dancing. The accompanying caption, translated online, states: “Diligent for Sion, loyal to Jerusalem, standing for Israel.”
Following the public outrage, the Miss Indonesia Organization reportedly removed Kogoya from the competition without issuing an official statement. She was replaced by Karmen Anastasya, the first runner-up from her province, according to The Jakarta Globe.
In response to the controversy, Kogoya posted an Instagram Story on Monday, asserting that the video was not political but rather an expression of her Christian faith.
“I was simply practicing my faith as a follower of Christ by praying and offering blessings, but an old video from my reels went viral with many false interpretations about my beliefs,” she wrote. However, social media commentators noted that her Instagram bio at the time still displayed the phrase “I stand with Israel.”
Israel and Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, do not have diplomatic relations, though it has been previously reported that Israel is in contacts to normalize relations with Indonesia.
Several years ago, then-Indonesian President Joko Widodo called on Muslim nations to unite in fighting Israel.
In 2021, the country’s foreign minister expressed her country’s firm position in support of the Palestinian Authority in ending the “Israeli occupation of its land”.
However, the country’s current President, Prabowo Subianto, said recently that his country is ready to open diplomatic ties with Israel if it recognizes “Palestine” as an independent state.
