ABSTRACT
The involvement of Arab mayors of the West Bank in national political activities became widespread after the 1976 municipal elections with the emergence of the newly elected nationalist town mayors as the all-West Bank political leadership. Many Arab mayors were consequently caught in a difficult dilemma: to associate themselves with the military efforts against terrorism, preserve peace and order in their towns and disassociate themselves from the Palestinian struggle; or refuse to participate in the war against the PLO and antagonize the Israeli authorities. Local political efforts had basically been reactive in nature, responding to the Israeli regime of control and its various effects on the Palestinian Arab population. On 20 June 1967, Ja'bari called on the Israeli government to gather Arab notables from the West Bank and also leaders of the Israeli Arab minority to discuss matters and draw up a plan for a Palestinian settlement based on the 1947 UN partition scheme.
