Debate on Bedouin resettlement put on hold

A Knesset debate set to take place Sunday on a controversial plan to resettle Bedouin in Israel’s south in government-built towns has been postponed, following intense pressure from Bedouin leaders and Arab rights’ groups.

Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Uri Ariel agreed to delay a hearing he sought on the so-called Prawer Plan — which had been technically shelved in 2013 — calling for the relocation of some 40,000-70,000 Negev Bedouin from unrecognized villages to planned local councils.

“Following talks over the weekend with Bedouin leaders and with the prime minister, I will temporarily hold off on the discussion,” Ariel said Sunday.

“I will shortly hold extensive public hearings with all parties in order to form a proper framework to end the current situation. We will then continue promote the law in accordance with the framework,” he said.

Over the past several years, Israel has tried to implement a policy of moving Bedouin off state lands and into recognized villages, but the state has been met with fierce opposition, including violent protests last year.

The government argues that the growing population requires planning and urbanization, while Arab activists insist the plan amounts to a land grab driven by anti-Arab prejudice.

Ariel was tasked with the Bedouin portfolio by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of the coalition demands of the Jewish Home party, of which Ariel is a member.

The Prawer bill was scrapped in December 2013, but numerous lawmakers have called for the revival of the issue in one form or another, as low-density, impoverished Bedouin villages proliferate into state land in the Negev desert, unconnected to the grid and causing environmental damage to local flora and fauna.

The villages are considered illegal by the Israeli government, having been built without permit or regulation. Many consist of temporary housing built from tin and recyclable materials.

The Joint (Arab) List party called on Netanyahu Sunday to scrap the debate on the Prawer Plan entirely — it’s “a declaration of war on Arab society,” a statement by the party read — and instead engage in a process of “dialogue with the leadership of the Arab public.”

“This law, aimed ostensibly at regulating land ownership in the Negev, will lead to the confiscation of more than half a million dunams in the south and displacement of more than forty Arab communities,” the statement said.

In June, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Beersheba’s government offices to demonstrate against the impending demolition of the unrecognized Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran and its replacement with a Jewish town.

In May, representatives of the Joint (Arab) List walked from another unrecognized Bedouin village to Jerusalem on a four-day protest march demanding more equitable planning for the 260,000 residents living in 36 villages in Israel’s south.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.