An influential Arab leader in Hebron, the West Bank’s largest city, is facing violent threats after proposing to break from the Palestinian Authority and join the Abraham Accords as an independent emirate seeking peace with Israel.
A source close to Sheikh Wadee’ al-Jaabari told The Daily Wire that the leader has received several violent threats since declaring his intentions in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Saturday.
Al-Jaabari, 48, is a leader of Hebron’s most influential clan, representing hundreds of thousands of Arabs in the area. He is reportedly backed by 21 other sheikhs who together represent about 554,000 people in the Hebron region, which has a population of roughly 700,000.
Despite the threats, al-Jaabari and his allies believe they have the Palestinian Authority outmanned and outgunned, thanks to his militia and the backing of the other sheikhs’ followers, according to the source.
The sheikhs told the Journal that it would take between one day and one week to remove the Palestinian Authority from Hebron.
The sheikh’s announcement comes just ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s White House meeting with President Donald Trump. The sheikhs hope to gain support from both leaders for their new approach to achieving peace.
In a blow to the idea of a two-state solution, al-Jaabari signed a letter to the Israeli government outlining a path for peace and recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.
“We want cooperation with Israel,” al-Jaabari told the Journal. “We want coexistence.”
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The sheikh is known for breaking from the anti-Israel model of the Palestinian Authority and is often friendly to Israelis. In any such agreement with Israel, the sheikhs would prioritize fighting terrorism.
The letter, addressed to Israel’s Economy Minister Nir Barkat, was signed by four other leading sheikhs, many of whom remained anonymous in the Wall Street Journal article but are also facing violent threats.
“The Emirate of Hebron shall recognize the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people,” the sheikhs wrote in the letter, according to the Journal. “[A]nd the State of Israel shall recognize the Emirate of Hebron as the Representative of the Arab residents in the Hebron District.”
The establishment of an Emirate of Hebron would separate the Hebron region from the Palestinian Authority, which has never recognized Israel as a Jewish state.
Al-Jaabari says the Palestinian Authority, which is centralized in Ramallah, “doesn’t represent the Palestinians” and that the traditional clan governance of the Arab people in the region is a more sustainable alternative.
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As an independent emirate, al-Jaabari envisions his region would join the Abraham Accords to pursue peace and economic cooperation with Israel. His plan calls for Israel to initially grant 1,000 work permits to Arabs from Hebron, many of which were revoked after Hamas’s October 7 attacks. Al-Jaabari hopes that the number will eventually grow to 50,000. He also plans to pursue the creation of a joint economic zone near the Israel-Hebron security fence to employ tens of thousands.
In response to the letter being brought to light, other members of the al-Jaabari family disavowed the sheikh Sunday night, noting that he currently lives outside of Hebron.
“The Al-Jaabari family has long been rooted in the defense of Palestinian national principles, including the right of our people to self-determination and the protection of our land from the river to the sea,” the family members wrote, adding that they call on the public to not engage with al-Jaabari.
Shortly after, the sheikhs supporting the Emirate of Hebron released a statement accusing al-Jaabari’s extended family members of being “institutionally connected to the PA,” according to Wall Street Journal reporter Elliot Kaufman.
“This response stems from a natural and understandable concern that if Sheikh Jaabari’s initiative fails, the PA-aligned connections of certain leading members of the large clan could be severely damaged, potentially causing irreversible harm to the already fragile social fabric.”
The statement goes on to note that the “vast majority” of the al-Jaabari family “stand firmly behind Sheikh Wadee’ Jaabari and his historic, just, and necessary initiative to dismantle the Palestinian Authority and establish the Hebron Emirate.”
In a second statement, the sheikhs claimed that the Palestinian Authority has been in “complete panic” and has been arresting their family members to avoid making their intentions to make peace with Israel public.
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Israelis living in the West Bank, also known as Judea and Samaria, have praised the idea of an Emirate of Hebron.
“This is a break in the narrative of the Palestinian Authority,” Yishai Fleischer, the international spokesperson for the Jewish community of Hebron, told The Daily Wire. “These sheikhs are putting their lives on the line for this plan.”
Fleischer praised the group for refusing to tolerate terrorism, a stark difference from the Palestinian Authority’s “pay to slay” program, which has paid terrorists and their families for committing suicide attacks on civilians, including Americans.
“This plan is the end of the rule of the thuggish PA that tortures people and brainwashes kids to jihad,” Fleischer added.