A car belonging to Sheikh Wadee Al Jaabari, who wants to abolish the Palestinian Authority, establish the Hebron Emirate and join the Avraham Accords, was torched.
By Rachel Avraham
The Palestinian Authority has launched a wave of incitement against local leaders and sheikhs from the Hebron area who are leading an initiative to break away from the authority and create a local emirate that would recognize the State of Israel and join the Abraham Accords, Arutz Sheva reported. According to the report, on Tuesday night in eastern Jerusalem, a car belonging to Sheikh Wadih al-Jabari, the leader of Hebron’s main clan who is one of the leaders involved in the initiative, was torched.
The PA, which in the past has harassed sheikhs involved in initiatives to leave the authority, launched an incitement campaign on social media and the press, condemned the initiative, called it a “new version of treason,” and warned against a de facto partition of Judea and Samaria, Arutz Sheva stressed.
Palestinian Media Watch confirmed the Arutz Sheva report: “PMW reported on Sheikh Wadee’ al-Jaabari’s plan to abolish the Palestinian Authority (PA) and establish family-run emirates that would recognize Israel. Although the PA issued no official response a few days ago—and still has not done so today—it is already mounting a counter-campaign: recasting the idea as an Israeli initiative rather than a proposal from Hebron’s influential Jaabari clan.”
Palestinian Media Watch reported that official PA TV hosted Palestinian journalist Zahir Abu Hamda, who dismissed the plan as an Israeli creation without mentioning the Jaabari family: “The Israeli plan regarding the West Bank is very dangerous, because they want to establish Palestinian emirates in the West Bank, meaning municipalities of limited size, without political backing, meaning there is no Palestinian state and no Palestinian government. There will be an emirate in Hebron, an emirate in Jenin, in Bethlehem, in other places, controlled by families.”
According to Palestinian Media Watch, the PA apparently anticipated the announcement; before it was made public, PA TV broadcast a news flash—again portraying the idea as Israeli-driven: “The Minister of Economy in the occupation government, Nir Barkat, calls for the dismantling of the [Palestinian] National Authority.”
Palestinian Media Watch reported, “The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story, noted that Barkat has met several times with the Hebron sheikhs and served as Israel’s interlocutor on the proposal. After a statement and video was released by several Jaabari family members denouncing Sheikh Wadee’s plan, his supporters pointed out that every speaker in the clip was a current or former PA employee—effectively making the video the PA’s rebuttal rather than the clan’s.”
According to Palestinian Media Watch, Elliot Kaufman of The Wall Street Journal, who published the original report, shared the supporters’ statement on X (formerly Twitter): “The Palestinian Authority managed to issue a statement condemning Sheikh Jaabari’s position—which promotes its [the PA’s] dismantling—through an establishment figure named Arif Jaabari (Abu Basel), who previously served as governor of Hebron and Jericho on behalf of the PA. He was joined by a few other family members who are institutionally connected to the PA, such as senior municipality official Yusuf Jaabari and Nafeth Haidar Jaabari, who has working ties with the governor’s office, as well as a few others from the family with similar affiliations… Nevertheless, the vast majority of the Jaabari family — along with dozens of sheikhs representing most of the families in Hebron and its surroundings—stand firmly behind Sheikh Wadee’ Jaabari and his historic, just, and necessary initiative to dismantle the Palestinian Authority and establish the Hebron Emirate.”
The sheikhs seek to build a new industrial zone, to create an alternative to the Palestinian Authority in the form of a local emirate, and to join the Abraham Accords, Arutz Sheva reported. These Hebron sheikhs claim that the Palestinian Authority is made up of mainly foreign individuals imported from Tunisia, while the Jaabari clan has dominated Hebron society since the days of Saladin and therefore is a better reflection of the local culture in Hebron. According to the report, Samaria Governor Yossi Dagan responded: “The hysteria of the corrupt officials from the terrorist Palestinian Authority proves that they too understand the Oslo-era of terror is over.”
Photo from Hindustan Times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAMCcKXqg4c
