Israel looks to create ‘Hebron emirate’ to weaken PA grip on West Bank: Report
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials are set to meet to ‘examine the feasibility’ of the plan
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is looking to implement a plan aimed at “detaching” the occupied West Bank city of Hebron from the Palestinian Authority (PA), according to a report by Israeli news outlet i24.
A meeting will be held on 29 August between Netanyahu, Economy Minister Nir Barkat, and Defense Minister Israel Katz, as well as senior security officials. Barkat was the one who initially brought up the plan.
According to the report, the meeting will “examine the feasibility of replacing the PA leadership in the area with local clans and establishing a separate emirate, an entity that would recognize Israel as a Jewish state and join the Abraham Accords.”
The plan would further compromise the prospect of Palestinian statehood by dismantling the administrative unity of the occupied West Bank.
Israel’s Shin Bet security service said “We do not comment on positions presented in closed discussions,” in response to reports that the agency was opposed to the plan.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) had reported earlier that tribal leaders in Hebron had sent a letter to the Israeli economy minister proposing the establishment of an “emirate” in the city.
WSJ reported that Wadee al-Jaabari and four other Hebron clan leaders “have signed a letter pledging peace and full recognition of Israel as a Jewish state” in return for Tel Aviv’s recognition of the “Emirate of Hebron.”
The letter vows an abandonment of armed resistance, stressing commitment to a “zero tolerance” policy for “terrorism.”
However, the Palestinian tribes in Hebron, including the Jaabari family, firmly rejected the proposal in July.
“The Palestinians are a conscious people, and it is unthinkable for them to abandon their cause. We, as the Jaabari tribe, declare our complete disapproval and denunciation of what was done by a family member unknown to the tribe and not a resident of Hebron,” said Nafez al-Jaabari at the time.
“We, as the Jaabari tribe, declare our complete disapproval and denunciation of what was done by a family member unknown to the tribe and not a resident of Hebron,” he added.
Palestinian analyst Azzam Abu al-Adas said, “This new entity, the ‘Hebron Emirate,’ is supposed to sign a peace agreement with Israel, denounce terrorism, and join the Abraham Accords.”
“Most likely, the UAE will inject money to revive Hebron, while allowing only Hebron’s workers entry into Israel to create a carrot-and-stick model for the rest of the West Bank cities,” he added.
“In light of the current social collapse and the absence of political and community leadership, this plan will be realistic, and the PA has no tools ‘so far’ to stop it unless the Palestinian leadership recalculates its approach,” he went on to say. “It seems that the dismantling of the PA, which I have been talking about for more than a year and a half – and many opposed me on – will become a reality, and under Arab sponsorship, at least from the UAE.”
The latest report on the Hebron “emirate” comes as Israel has rapidly accelerated settlement expansion and plans to illegally annex the occupied West Bank as a response to the recent revival of the idea of Palestinian statehood and France’s vow to recognize a state of Palestine next month.
Earlier this month, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced an unfreezing of the E1 settlement project, which has been frozen for decades as a result of strong opposition from the international community.
It aims to link occupied East Jerusalem – viewed as integral to any future Palestinian state – to the illegal Maale Adumim settlement.
“Today, anyone in the world who tries to recognize a Palestinian state will receive an answer from us on the ground. Today we are writing a historic chapter in the story of the redemption of the people of Israel in their land,” the finance minister said.
In late July, lawmakers in Israel’s Knesset voted 71-13 in favor of a motion calling for “applying Israeli sovereignty to Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley.”