How the Village Leagues Model Could Reshape Governance in Judea and Samaria

According to Dan Diker, the Oslo Accords reversed Israel’s legitimacy on the world stage and empowered the PLO at Israel’s expense. With the Palestinian Authority collapsing from within, Diker argues that it is time to revisit the Village Leagues model Israel once tried in the 1970s, a local governance structure rooted in family networks rather than centralized militias.

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Oslo failed. Oslo was the most catastrophic and failed initiative since the establishment of the State because it inverted Israel’s legitimacy on the international stage in favour of the PLO.

That statement from Dr. Dan Diker caught my attention. I had never heard of the Village Leagues until a critical reader mentioned them in response to my writing about Mordechai Kedar’s Emirates proposal. Days later, Diker raised the idea during a panel at an Israel Security Summit hosted by IDSF‑Habithonistim.

Since I had believed Kedar’s plan was the only proposal addressing the tribal nature of Arab society, I wanted to understand this new option. Diker spoke with me by phone.

I began by asking whether the Village Leagues could apply to both Gaza and Judea and Samaria. Diker said Gaza is a different case. The only option there is a gated villages structure under Trump’s plan. In Judea and Samaria, families have been rooted for generations and the notable families are deeply embedded in the social fabric. That makes a local model viable.

He described a system of municipalities functioning as self‑sufficient units with security cooperation with the IDF. The villages would be subsets of the seven major Arab cities: Ramallah, Hebron, Jericho, Tul Karem, Jenin, Nablus and Bethlehem. These cities are already under exclusive Arab control in Area A.

But the Village Leagues were tried before and failed. Diker explained why. Israel’s political right opposed conceding any territory. The left opposed it because they were advancing a PLO‑led two‑state solution. Many Arabs rejected it because recognizing the villages meant recognizing Israel. He recommended reading Yigal Carmon’s detailed analysis of the original plan, which describes additional obstacles, including internal Israeli bureaucratic conflicts, foreign pressure in favour of the PLO and Jordan’s shifting position.

Why It Might Work Now                            

I asked why the plan should work today. Diker said the environment has changed. Israel already conceded territory to the PA under Oslo, so objections to giving up land are less relevant. Polls show almost no appetite in Israel for another terror state in the hills of Judea and Samaria, especially after October 7. He believes autonomous control will not extend beyond what the PA already has in Area A.

He added that any new model must be local and must replace the PA. According to polls by Khalil Shikaki, 85 percent of Palestinians want Mahmoud Abbas to go home. People are sick of the PA’s spying and arbitrary arrests. Local militias now dominate and are connected to the PFLP, Iran, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. If Israel empowers local forces to defend their homes, they will cooperate with the IDF. If Israel asserts its authority, they will “play ball.”

Challenges remain. The PA wants to maintain its power. The IDF likes the centralized PA security force because it dispatches the IDF to prevent terror attacks. The plan is still on the drawing board.

Village Leagues vs. Kedar’s Emirates

I asked how the Village Leagues differ from Kedar’s Emirates plan. Diker said Kedar’s model is based on the UAE, where each Emirate is built on one noble family with a clear power structure. In Judea and Samaria, competing crime and mafia families would make that difficult, especially during wartime.

My conversation with Diker gave me hope. Alternatives are being considered. New ideas may finally move us beyond outdated, unimaginative solutions.

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