The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) will fail if implemented, as only an emirate-style system in which local clans govern independent districts within the territory can effectively rule Palestinian society there, Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a Middle East scholar and expert on Islamic affairs, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
“Only the clans can run Gaza. But for this, you have to get rid of Hamas first,” he said, speaking after the Pulse of Israel conference in Jerusalem.
Kedar has for decades advocated what he calls the Palestinian Emirates Plan, which would see the role of Palestinian governance taken up by clan-based local authorities. Under the plan, Gaza and parts of the West Bank would be governed by dominant local families or clans.
He further argues that vast cultural differences between Palestinians across different cities and areas make a centralized Palestinian government unfeasible.
In remarks during the conference, he said the clan system is “the only system which works well in the Arab world.”
“Kuwait, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Oman. All these emirates and states in the Gulf are based on clans. And this is why they are flourishing. This is why they are stable,” Kedar said.
However, he admitted that given the destruction in Gaza and the dispersion of the Palestinians there in the wake of the Israel-Hamas War, he’s unsure of what the next steps would be for the Strip.
Kedar: Trump has many dreams far from the reality of the Middle East
Still, speaking to the Post, he described the NCAG, which was formed under the auspices of the US President Donald Trump-led Board of Peace, as a “dream” disconnected from the realities of the region.
Further, he said, the committee is abjectly “worthless” as long as Hamas retained its weapons.
“Trump has many dreams which are as far as possible from the reality of the Middle East,” Kedar said. “He once dreamt about evacuating Gaza and having Gaza empty. He can dream about this. It will be one of his dreams which will never be realized.”
He went on to describe Trump’s plan for the successful implementation of the Board of Peace’s peace plan for Gaza as a “hallucination.”
Kedar pushes for Palestinian Emirates Plan
In his comments during the conference, though, he continued to emphatically back the Palestinian Emirates Plan as the solution for Palestinian governance in the West Bank.
Kedar said that, as a result of the war, local Palestinian leaders there, particularly in Hebron, were starting to weigh the option.
“They understand that if there is a Palestinian state, this Palestinian state will turn into ‘Hamastan,’ either by elections, as happened in January 2006 when Hamas won the elections of the Palestinian Legislative Council, or by coup d'etat as happened in Gaza in June 2007 when Hamas took Gaza over by force.”
He further asserted that the implementation of a Palestinian emirates system, which would see clan rule in the cities and the rural areas permanently annexed by Israel, is the only way to end the idea of a Palestinian state and give independence and autonomy to the vast majority of Arabs living in the West Bank.
Kedar predicted that the steps to achieve this goal might not be far off and that Hebron could soon be the first city to try it.
“If one morning you wake up to hear the news that Hebron has announced its independence from the Palestinian Authority and joined the Abraham Accords, make a face as if you are surprised, because it is in the process,” he told the conference, adding that Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat was “pushing it with all his might.”