Like other 20th century Middle Eastern elites, the Palestinian leadership of the West Bank was based on leading families until the early 1970s. Since the 1980s, many observers have argued that these families have lost their positions due to the rise of the PLO and the major political, economic and social changes experienced by the Palestinians following the Israeli occupation in 1967. The implications of such conclusions were far-reaching; they encapsulated the ideas that the political culture of the West Bank underwent a significant modernization, and that the status of the family – as a central social, cultural, political and economic institution – has declined. The proposed paper argues that the processes that the West Bank elite underwent were milder than they are usually perceived to have been. Contrary to common opinion, major shifts of the 1960s and 1970s did not compel the leading families to give up their positions as important players in the socio-political theater, as long as they were ready to adapt themselves to the changing realities. Yet choosing to adapt was not necessarily obvious because each family behaved as a different organization with disparate structures, goals and strategies that affected its adaptive skills. The proposed paper traces the story of the al-Masri family from Nablus, one of the most influential Palestinian families during the 20th century. The paper depicts and analyzes the developments that occurred in the family's connections to its support bases (such as the Fatah movement, Jordan, Israel, the merchants, the intelligentsia and others), and explain what can be learned from this network about the al-Masris' successful ability to adapt to the changing realities. On a broader level, this case provides another example of the ability of traditional forces in the Middle East to combine themselves into new elites. The sources for this study include a wide range of Jordanian, Palestinian, Israeli, British and American documents, as well as newspapers and oral testimonies. Methodologically, the study combines tools and concepts from the fields of family history and network analysis, as the latter is becoming increasingly prevalent in the humanities.