In 1915, an Arab clan leader made a bold decision that would change the course of history: Emir Hussein bin-Ali rebelled against the Ottoman Empire, aligned himself with the dominant Western power of the time, Great Britain, and lent his support for the reestablishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
In 2025, a similar sequence of events might be occurring: Sheikh Wadee al-Jaabari of Hebron, along with 20 other local sheikhs announced this week their plans to rebel against the Palestinian Authority, join the US-led Abraham Accords, and recognize the Jewish state.
Since The Wall Street Journal broke the story on Sunday, public discussion has focused on whether the plan to establish the Hebron emirate is feasible, and what the security implications are. Those conversations belittle the magnitude of the event: It is indicative of a historic paradigm shift that goes far beyond the mechanics of the actual proposal.
The parallels between today and 1915
This was also the case back in 1915. While the move by the Hashemite emir shaped history, it did not do so in the way originally intended. The plan was to establish a pan-Arab kingdom in Syria that would live in peace and partnership with the Jewish state. This did not come to fruition as France demanded Syria for itself, launched a war, and obliterated the nascent Arab kingdom.
Yet, the Hashemite emir’s move shaped history in a much more grandiose way: It reorganized Middle Eastern political structures from empire-dominated to family-based Arab monarchies: The Hashemites established their Kingdoms in Jordan and Iraq, the Sauds in Arabia, and various others families in the Gulf. Moreover, it ended 400 years of Turkish homogeneity in the Middle East (1516-1917), and ushered in more than a century of European intervention (1917-2025).
It is too early to tell if this week’s Jaabari emirates initiative will evolve in the way intended: annulment of the Oslo Accords, and establishment of clan-based emirates. Yet, it affirms the irreversible trends toward peace discussed in this column and in my two books (see details below).
First, the Jaabari announcement underscores the shift of the guiding principle for Middle East peacemaking: From “divide the baby” frameworks that keep all unhappy (two-state solution) to win-win deals that benefit everybody (Abraham Accords). More broadly, it is moving from a mindset of peace through appeasement to one of peace through strength. The sheikhs stated it clearly: they reject the idea of the two-state solution, and embrace the Abraham Accords.
The demise of the two-state solution removes an artificial peace-blocker placed by the West. The exclusivity of this template was so pronounced, that both the US under former president Joe Biden as well as the UK listed opposition to the “two-state solution” as grounds for sanctions.
Jabarii told The Wall Street Journal what is obvious to those in the region, but indigestible to Europeans: “There will be no Palestinian state – not even in 1,000 years.”
Indeed, the sheikh’s announcement affirms another trend discussed in this column: A shift from obsessive focus on Palestinian national rights to focus on Palestinian human rights.
International condemnation of the conditions in Gaza
This comes at a time when there is surreal opposition to this shift coming from Europe and its proxies.
For example, US Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) argued in a speech on the Senate floor in May that conditions in Gaza are uninhabitable: “92% of housing in Gaza has been damaged or destroyed. Most of the population now is living in tents or other makeshift structures,” he said. Yet, rather than supporting Trump’s Gaza relocation proposal, Sanders insists that Gazans stay under the rubbles in Gaza, and be robbed of their basic human right to flee a war zone.
Similarly, the UK government, in issuing sanctions against Israel, warned of “the threat of starvation for the Gazan population,” but at the same time condemned Israel for helping Gazans flee to humanitarian zones, where they will have food and be safe from Hamas using them as human shields.
This official UK dehumanization of Palestinians is done in order to promote the British objective of a Palestinian state: “a path to a two-state solution is the only way to ensure the long-term peace and security of both Palestinians and Israelis,” that same sanctions edict reads.
The clash between European interests and those of local Arabs is clear: European aggressive promotion of Palestinization vs. Arabs seeking de-Palestinization and a return to their organic true self. As one of the sheikhs told The Wall Street Journal: “To think only about making a Palestinian state will bring us all to disaster.”
Indeed, the sheikhs’ initiative should send a message to the coalition of Western abusers of Palestinian human rights, which includes the UK, UN, EU, and US Democratic senators: We are humans, not pawns in the Western assault on Judaism.
This contrast reminds us that while there is an unprecedented opportunity for peace under the leadership of President Donald Trump, there is also fierce opposition from Europe and its proxies.
Therefore, for the sake of peace, Trump must insist that Europe fully disengage from its disruptive intervention in Israeli-Arab affairs. For peace to happen, you do not only need the Arabs to come in, but the Europeans also have to get out.
This would also free Europe to focus on the emerging threat to global stability, coming from within itself. In recent months, the Palestinian flag is seen more and more in riots in Europe, which leads some to worry that at the same time that there is de-Palestinization in the Middle East, there is Palestinization of the nascent European Islamic national movement.
After all, the objective of “globalize the intifada” was never kept a secret.
The infrastructure, funding, PR strategy, and even slogans are already in place: “From the Atlantic Ocean, to the Black Sea…” (Back in 2020, I outlined in a special edition of the Jerusalem Post Magazine, the idea for a preemptive European peace conference, akin to ones in 1815 and 1919 – this has since become even more pressing).
This week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Trump that he nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Indeed, generations of Arabs and Jews will continue to be in great debt to Trump for his bold leadership, fresh thinking and recognition that peace requires a paradigm shift.
In 1915, the actions of Emir Hussein bin-Ali marked a shift in the Middle East from Turkish to European influence. In 2025, the actions of the 30 sheikhs led by Sheikh Jaabari might symbolize the shift from European to American influence. With it would come a shift from fueling conflicts and perpetuating wars to crafting a path toward organic, sustainable peace.
The writer is the author of The Assault on Judaism: The Existential Threat Is Coming from the West and Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism and is chairman of the Judaism 3.0 think tank (Judaism-Zionism.com). For more of his analysis: EuropeAndJerusalem.com.