In an unprecedented move that could reshape the political landscape of Judea and Samaria, five prominent sheikhs from the biblical city of Hebron have formally requested to break away from the Palestinian Authority and negotiate a separate peace treaty with Israel.

The March 24 letter, addressed to Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat, proposes that Hebron secede from the Palestinian Authority, establish itself as an independent emirate, and join the Abraham Accords while recognizing Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

“We want cooperation with Israel,” said Sheikh Wadee’ al-Jaabari, also known as Abu Sanad, head of the city’s most powerful tribal clan and one of the five original signatories. “We want coexistence.”

The proposal marks a dramatic departure from decades of Palestinian rejectionism and represents the first time Arab leaders in Judea and Samaria have formally sought to bypass the Palestinian Authority for direct negotiations with Israel.

Under the plan outlined in the letter, the proposed “Emirate of Hebron” would “recognize the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people,” while Israel would “recognize the Emirate of Hebron as the Representative of the Arab residents in the Hebron District.”

The comprehensive peace plan includes immediate practical benefits, with the sheiks requesting that Israel initially admit 1,000 Hebron workers, followed by 5,000 more. Sheikh Jaabari and another major sheik confirmed that Barkat indicated this number could eventually reach 50,000 workers from Hebron.

The letter explicitly pledges “zero tolerance” for terrorism by workers, creating a stark contrast with the Palestinian Authority’s controversial “pay-to-slay” program that provides stipends to jailed terrorists and families of those killed while committing attacks against Israelis.

The plan also envisions establishing a joint economic zone covering more than 1,000 acres near the security fence between Hebron and Israel, which the sheiks anticipate will employ tens of thousands of workers.

Since March, many other local leaders have joined the initiative, though many remain anonymous for safety reasons. According to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, the first circle of participants includes eight major sheikhs leading an estimated 204,000 local residents, while a second circle contains 13 additional sheiks representing another 350,000 people.

“The people are with us,” one sheik told the Journal. “Nobody respects the PA, nobody wants them.”

The sheiks have held more than 12 meetings with Minister Barkat since February, with the Israeli official acting with the knowledge of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who reportedly supports the initiative but remains cautious.

The Hebron leaders express stark pessimism about Palestinian statehood prospects following the October 7 attacks. “There will be no Palestinian state—not even in 1,000 years,” Sheikh Jaabari declared. “After Oct. 7, Israel will not give it.”

A second major Hebron sheik who signed the letter agrees: “To think only about making a Palestinian state will bring us all to disaster.”

The sheiks describe the Oslo Accords as having “only brought damage, death, economic disaster and destruction” and criticize the agreements for imposing “the corrupt Palestinian Authority instead of recognizing the traditional, authentic local leadership.”

The initiative reflects a fundamental tension between traditional clan-based governance and modern national movements. Mordechai Kedar, an Arab culture scholar at Bar-Ilan University who helped bring Sheikh Jaabari to Minister Barkat, has promoted the emirates concept for 20 years.

Kedar argues that successful Arab states like Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE are “each controlled by one family,” while failing states represent “conglomerates of ethnic, religious and sectarian groups, with modern states imposed flimsily on top.”

Sheikh Jaabari emphasized the Palestinian Authority’s illegitimacy, stating: “It doesn’t represent the Palestinians.” He explained that clans governed their localities for centuries before “the Israeli state decided for us. It brought the PLO and told the Palestinians: Take this.”

The sheikhs claim they can remove the Palestinian Authority from Hebron within a week, depending on their approach’s aggressiveness. “Just don’t get involved,” one leading Hebron sheikh advised Israel. “Be out of the picture.”

They believe support from the Trump administration could secure Netanyahu’s approval for their plan. One prominent Hebron sheikh expressed optimism: “If we will get the blessing of honorable President Trump and the United States for this project, Hebron could be like the Gulf, like Dubai.”

When asked about concerns that his coexistence vision might be considered a betrayal of Palestinian aspirations, Sheikh Jaabari responded: “The betrayal was done in Oslo. You forgot, but I remember—33 years of it. I believe in my path. There will be obstacles, but if we confront a rock, we will have iron to break it.”

The initiative represents a potential paradigm shift in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, offering an alternative to the traditional two-state solution through direct cooperation between Israeli authorities and traditional Arab leadership in Judea and Samaria.

The initiative faces significant obstacles within Israel’s security establishment. The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security agency have traditionally worked with the Palestinian Authority for security coordination, and sources indicate internal opposition to the sheikhs’ plan.

Retired Major General Gadi Shamni, who commanded IDF Central Command from 2007-09, expressed skepticism: “How do you deal with dozens of different families, each of them armed, each under its own control? The IDF would be caught in the crossfire—it would be a mess, a disaster.”

However, retired Brigadier General Amir Avivi, founder of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, offered a contrasting perspective, characterizing the Palestinian Authority as “the central incubator of terrorism, via school indoctrination and pay-to-slay salaries.”

Hebron holds profound religious significance for the Jewish people as one of the most ancient and sacred cities in Jewish history. The city is where Abraham, the first patriarch, purchased the Cave of Machpelah (Cave of the Patriarchs) as a burial place for his wife Sarah—the first piece of land legally acquired by Jews in the Land of Israel according to biblical record.

The Biblical account in Genesis 23 describes the transaction in detail: When Sarah died at age 127, Abraham approached the Hittites who controlled the area, saying, “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.” The Hittites offered to give him land, but Abraham insisted on paying full price to establish clear legal ownership. He negotiated with Ephron the Hittite for the cave and the field surrounding it, ultimately paying 400 shekels of silver—”the current price among the merchants”—for the property. The Torah emphasizes that the transaction was conducted publicly “in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city,” establishing indisputable legal title to the land.

The cave serves as the burial site for the three patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—and three matriarchs—Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah. This makes Hebron the second-holiest city in Judaism, after Jerusalem. King David ruled from Hebron for seven and a half years before establishing Jerusalem as his capital, further cementing the city’s place in Jewish history and religious consciousness.

Hebron’s modern history has been marked by tragedy and division. The city was home to a thriving Jewish community for centuries until the devastating 1929 Hebron massacre, when Arab rioters killed 67 Jews and wounded many others, effectively ending the ancient Jewish presence in the city’s center.

Following the massacre, the remaining Jewish residents were evacuated by British authorities, leading to the complete ethnic cleansing of Jews from Hebron’s historic core. For decades afterward, Jews were prohibited from entering the Cave of the Patriarchs and were banned from praying at Judaism’s second holiest site.

The 1967 Six-Day War marked the return of Jewish presence to Hebron, though in severely limited form. Today, approximately 700-800 Jewish residents live in several small enclaves in the eastern portion of the city, while another 8,400 Israelis reside in the adjacent settlement of Kiryat Arba.

Under the 1997 Hebron Protocol signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the city was divided into two sections: H1, covering 80% of Hebron under full Palestinian Authority control, and H2, spanning the eastern fifth of the city under Israeli military administration. Jews were prohibited from entering H1, ensuring an exclusively Arab presence. 

Despite the return of Jewish residents, restrictions remain severe. Jews are still prohibited from entering most of Hebron and face significant limitations on movement and access to holy sites. The Jewish community remains confined to a tiny enclave, highlighting the lasting impact of the 1929 ethnic cleansing and subsequent decades of exclusion.