Emirate of Hebron

Author: Swagnarok

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Five local sheikhs in Hebron, a West Bank city of almost a quarter million people, have penned a letter proposing the creation of an Emirate of Hebron. This microstate, in exchange for sovereign independence (or at least autonomy) and an arrangement where Israel allowed large numbers of its people to work in Israel proper, would recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state and have a zero-tolerance policy on terrorism.

If attempted, this would be an experiment in divvying up the West Bank into several Israel-friendly and Israel-dependent governments, letting a kind of Israeli-Palestinian peace process move forward despite the PA's refusal to negotiate. This state wouldn't be a democracy, but to be fair neither is the PA at present, and when a majority of Palestinians hate Israel's guts that's probably for the best anyhow. Conversely, its domestic unpopularity could put it at risk of being toppled from within. But there's also a non-negligible chance that the economic opportunities raised by this state compared to life in currently PA-controlled areas would ultimately outweigh local Jew-hatred.