- 15:45
What if the future of Middle East peace lay not in a one-state or two-state solution, but in a network of tribal emirates forging direct ties with Israel? That is the provocative vision reportedly proposed by a group of influential Palestinian clan leaders from the Hebron region in the West Bank—chief among them the powerful Sheikh Wadih al-Jaabari—according to a Wall Street Journal report published last Saturday.
A Rift with the Palestinian Authority
In Hebron—the most populous city in the West Bank, with nearly 230,000 residents—five tribal leaders, led by al-Jaabari, are said to have signed a letter addressed to Israeli Economy Minister and former Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat. The letter recognizes Israel as “the nation-state of the Jewish people” and calls for the formation of an autonomous “Emirate of Hebron,” separate from the Palestinian Authority and linked to the Abraham Accords.
Economic Incentives and Political Realignment
According to the Wall Street Journal, the plan includes the development of a joint economic zone and the creation of a legal labor corridor that would initially allow 1,000, and eventually up to 50,000, Hebron residents to work in Israel. In return, the signatories pledge a strict policy of “zero tolerance” for terrorism and criticize the Palestinian Authority for continuing to pay stipends to families of convicted attackers.
Nir Barkat, who reportedly met with the tribal leaders more than a dozen times, regards the initiative as a crucial break from the “Oslo process,” which the signatories deem a historic failure. The former Jerusalem mayor and close ally of Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have presented the proposal to the Israeli prime minister who, according to the Journal, has responded with cautious interest.
A Flawed Model?
The idea of tribal emirates in Hebron and elsewhere has long been advocated by Mordechai Kedar, an Israeli professor at Bar-Ilan University and expert on Arab societies, who proposes an “eight-state solution.”
Kedar envisions Hebron, Nablus, Jericho, Qalqilya, Jenin, Tulkarem, Bethlehem and Ramallah as autonomous enclaves. He argues that tribal governance structures provide a far more resilient foundation than the centralized state models common throughout the Arab world.
According to Kedar, the recurring failures of states in the Middle East underscore the shortcomings of centralized systems, while tribal entities like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia thrive due to strong, deeply rooted familial authority.
Jaabari is equally candid, “There will be no Palestinian State, not even in a thousand years. Israel will not allow it after October 7,” he reportedly said.
He dismisses the Palestinian Authority’s relevance, stating, “Their only connection to Hebron now is tax collection.”
An Elusive Proposal?
The separatist plan was swiftly and unequivocally rejected. Palestinian tribes in Hebron firmly repudiated the project last Sunday.
“Palestinians are a conscious people and abandoning their cause is unthinkable,” said Nafez al-Jaabari, a tribal representative, at a press conference.
He denounced the initiative as the act of an individual, “We, the al-Jaabari tribe, categorically reject what was done by someone neither recognized by our family nor residing in Hebron.”
The clan reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to “Islamic and national values, the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
While the Hebron emirate proposal may have been little more than a mirage, its emergence highlights the profound political turmoil in the West Bank and the deadlock of a peace process running out of steam.
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