The revolutionary plan of five Hebron sheikhs

In a potentially trailblazing development on the peace front, five leading Muslim Arab sheikhs from the Hebron area have signed a letter pledging peace and full recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, according to a commentary in Sunday’s Wall Street Journal.

According to the article, the letter is addressed to Economy Minister Nir Barkat, who has met with sheikhs at his home more than a dozen times since February. The group is asking Barkat to present the letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and await his reply.

Led by Sheikh Wadee’ al-Jaabari, whose clan (Jabari) is said to be the most influential in the region, the leaders’ plan is for Hebron to break out of the Palestinian Authority, establish an emirate of its own and join the Abraham Accords, per the Wall Street Journal report.

As part of the plan, “the Emirate of Hebron will recognize the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, and the State of Israel shall recognize the Emirate of Hebron as the Representative of the Arab residents in the Hebron District,” states the letter.

According to the newspaper, the letter’s authors seek a timetable for negotiations to join the Abraham Accords and “a fair and decent arrangement that would replace the Oslo Accords, which only brought damage, death, economic disaster and destruction.”

The sheikhs say the Oslo Accords, agreed to by Israel and the PLO in the 1990s, “have brought upon us the corrupt Palestinian Authority, instead of recognizing the traditional, authentic local leadership.”

Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies and an expert on the Muslim world, told JNS he is optimistic that the letter represents “a turning point.”

Kedar, who has been promoting the idea of clan rule for the Arabs of Judea and Samaria for 25 years, said that Israel and the rest of the world assumed that the Palestinian Authority is one united entity which could become a state when in reality it was afflicted with clan feuds, differences and divisions.

He said the letter “is the first real challenge to the P.A.’s existence, since Hamas took over Gaza [from the P.A.] 18 years ago.”

“In general, in the Arab world, the notion of nationalism has failed in places likes Sudan, Libya, Syria, Iraq, etc. because traditional divisions are based on ethnic groups and sects. When there is a struggle, nationalism fails to solve their problems,” he said.

Kedar explained that Westerners look at the Middle East through a lens which is irrelevant in this part of the world. He said, “The Western world keeps failing because it doesn’t understand the culture of this area, which is based on the clan.”

Kedar said the P.A.’s biggest failure was trying to become an entity which unites all the cities and clans under its jurisdiction. He said the Hebron clan decided to undertake this initiative regardless of what happens in the rest of Judea and Samaria as “they hate them (the other clans), anyway.”

Ultimately though, Kedar said, the idea of bypassing the P.A. and supporting clan rule is in Israel’s hands.

“It depends on us,” he said. “The IDF and other security branches which are dealing with populations in Judea and Samaria need to make it happen. It’s a matter of government policy.”

Kedar said it means diverting cooperation from the P.A. in the Hebron area to cooperation with the clans, as the P.A. is their enemy.

“The clans view the Oslo agreements as a disaster for themselves and the Palestinian people…. They understand the P.A. which continues to pay terrorists, and the establishment of a P.A. state, would turn into Hamastan.”

Yishai Fleisher, the international spokesperson for the Jewish Community of Hebron told JNS that the sheikhs’ offer represents the end of the Oslo Accords and the beginning of the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority.

He said the letter demonstrates that the “Israel vs. Palestine” narrative is a fraud. “In reality, there are other narratives. There are many so-called Palestinian Arabs who don’t want the P.A. and are looking for a way out of it. To recognize that reality and to give it space in the discourse is very important.”

Fleisher said that what the Hebron clan is saying, with a lot of courage, is that Israel isn’t their enemy, rather their enemy is the P.A. and Hamas. He said that is extremely significant since normally we’re used to hearing that Israel is destroying their lives, but now they’re pointing a finger at who is really undermining them.

Fleisher said the leaders of the Hebron clan are expressing what they really want: equality amongst their clan, residency in Israel and the freedom to work and travel.

“This is based on acceptance of reality, that Israel is here, and it’s something they want to accept because there is an opportunity for a decent life here,” said Fleisher.

Fleisher said the biggest obstacle to moving forward with the plan is the fact that the Israeli security services are used to operating with the P.A. and they will have to adapt, which is easier said than done. But he said it’s worth a shot.

“The P.A. is jihadist towards Israel and suppressive of its own people. They have not brought peace with Israel nor a decent life for their constituents. So, they are a total failure,” he said.

Fleisher said the way to move forward is acknowledging Israel can’t divide the land, but rather, Israel should recognize the cultural regions which exist within, and give them a modicum of their way to administer justice and order.

“Let them eradicate jihadism in their Middle Eastern way, let them get Israeli residency to work and have a decent life in Israel,” he said.

He added, “Israel will be the sovereign but they will have cultural autonomy. These two communities will live and flourish as part of the Abraham Accords.”

Yisrael Ganz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council and chairman of the Yesha Council, told JNS that the abandonment by the clan of the notion that a P.A. state should be recognized between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, was a good step forward.

Ganz made his case for Israeli sovereignty instead, saying “The only recognition should be that the Jewish people are the sovereign in this territory, the land of their ancestors.”

He added, “A population that accepts this principle alongside the principle that the region is part of the sovereign State of Israel forever, will be able to lead a good and happy life here.”

However, according to Samer Sinijlawi, chairman of the Jerusalem Development Fund, the plan is not practical or serious, nor does it represent the will of the Hebron Jaabari clan.

Sinijlawi shared a video with JNS of a press conference from Sunday, which he said features members of the clan distancing themselves from the plan, and claiming that Sheikh Wadee’ al-Jaabari in not their Sheikh.

“The plan published by The Wall Street Journal is not seen as practical, nor accepted by the Palestinians wall to wall,” he said.

Sinijlawi added, “Today the council of the al-Jaabari family denied its relation, support or knowledge of this plan. They denied knowing Wadee’ al-Jaabari, the person whom the WSJ claimed to be the head of the family.”

Sinijlawi claimed the ideas in the Emirates plan are “old plans” introduced by an Israeli scholar (referring to Dr. Kedar), but never caught the attention of the Palestinians or the Israelis.

That being said, Elie Pieprz, director of international relations in Israel’s Defense and Security Forum, told JNS the letter demonstrates that the the Oslo Accords are falling apart.

“The goalposts have been moved and whether we are discussing Gaza or Judea and Samaria, the only future that can lead to a durable peace is one that is based on Israeli sovereignty alongside some element of local control for Arab residents. This letter is just the beginning,” Pieprz said.

The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment.

© JNS