The establishment of the “Emirate of Hebron” has been raised again after far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Tuesday that he had annulled the Hebron Accords and seized planning and construction powers at a Jewish and Muslim shrine in the occupied West Bank from Palestinian authorities.
The idea of “annulment” was already put forward more than a year ago but rejected by Palestinians.
The 1997 agreement gave the Palestinian Hebron municipality authority to construct and plan in the H2 area of the city, despite it being under Israeli military control.
And in what appears to be a coordinated plan, while Smotrich annulled the Hebron Accords, Likud Minister Nir Barkat brought five Hebron residents to a Knesset hearing to promote a government-backed plan to secede from the Palestinian Authority, establish an independent emirate and join regional normalization agreements.
“The dispute came to a head during a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee hearing this week, when Barkat brought five Hebron residents promoting the initiative,” Haaretz newspaper wrote on Friday.
“The group argued they could assume responsibility for their local areas and maintain order through a model of tribal leadership,” it added.
The newspaper explained that last year, five residents of Hebron had proposed breaking away from the Palestinian Authority in an initiative for an “Emirate of Hebron.”
According to a 2025 report in The Wall Street Journal, the group sent a letter to Barkat in which they expressed support for Israel as a Jewish state and proposed the creation of a joint Israeli-West Bank industrial zone near the separation barrier.
Haaretz said Barkat presented the five Hebron residents as those who are willing to accept responsibility for the areas where their extended families live, break away from the Palestinian Authority, and establish a system of local tribal leadership.
During the discussion, the sheikhs claimed that they had the power to restore order and protect their residents.
The five sheikhs, the newspaper wrote, presented far-reaching demands to the Israeli army and security forces during the discussion. They demanded that soldiers refrain from activities against them and their people, reduce arrests, and stop searching for weapons on their families' lands.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli also attended the discussion, expressing full support for the initiative. According to Chikli, the emirate model is “the future of the West Bank” and the most significant alternative offered to the Palestinian Authority so far.
Chikli argued that the local tribal structure may constitute a more stable basis for a Palestinian government than the PA's institutions, which the Israeli government seeks to dismantle.
The 1997 Hebron Agreement divided the city of Hebron into two zones: H1, under Palestinian control and H2, under Israeli security control.
Palestinians controlled planning and construction in the entire city, including the Jewish Tomb of the Patriarchs and the adjoining Muslim Ibrahimi Mosque.
Hebron's Old City is recognized as a Palestinian World Heritage site.
Hundreds of Jewish settlers live among tens of thousands of Palestinians in parts of the ancient city that are under Israeli security control.
Annulling the Hebron Accords means Israelis would again control the H2 area of the city, including religious affairs.
Smotrich said: “This is much more than a planning step, it is a step... of practical sovereignty, of governance.”
The Palestinian mayor of Hebron, Yousef Al-Jabari, called Smotrich's announcement a “racist decision aimed at stripping the Hebron municipality of its powers.”
He told Israel’s i24NEWS channel that the Palestinian people remain entirely capable of choosing their own leadership, despite active Israeli interference.
“We have a municipality that democratically elects its president and members. Hebron is ruled by Palestinian legitimacy and no one else will rule it,” he added.
On Friday, Haaretz said the Israeli military has rejected these estimates outright. Security sources who spoke to Haaretz said most of the figures presented as influential lack public status in Hebron, and are not recognized as the city's power centers.
Other sources warned that the very fact of holding the Knesset debate and granting official legitimacy to a model of tribal leadership supported by Israel could create the impression that Israel is trying to dismantle the existing Palestinian leadership by appointing cronies from collaborating clans.
Such a move, they warn, could actually strengthen support for extremist factions and deepen instability in the West Bank.
“When ministers bring the sheikhs to the Knesset, give them an official platform and present them as a governmental alternative to the Palestinian Authority, it can no longer be treated as just a public relations exercise – it has direct consequences on the ground,” said a security source who spoke to Haaretz.
