New housing announced for Bedouin in Negev

The Ministerial Committee for Housing on Monday approved the construction of the first new Bedouin village in the Negev in 15 years.

Housing Minister Yoav Galant (Kulanu) announced a new Bedouin village would be built just south of the existing Bedouin town of Segev Shalom, Channel 2 reported. The village will primarily house various clans of the al-Azazme tribe, who currently live in unrecognized settlements between Beersheba and Mitzpe Ramon.

The new village will encompass an area of some 9,000 dunams (just over 2,200 acres) and provide housing for approximately 9,000 residents.

The original plan for rehousing the Bedouin of the Negev came from Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) who was tasked with the Bedouin portfolio by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The government considers the undocumented villages to be illegal, having been built without permit or regulation.

But plans for resettlement have been met with fierce opposition from the Bedouin and Arab communities, who claim they amount to a land grab by authorities.

The committee also approved a three-year plan for new housing for the ultra-Orthodox community. Plans for 20,000 housing units will be submitted to the building committee and plans for 15,000 units will be offered for tender. This is part of a 20-year plan for 200,000 new units primarily for the haredi community.

The new housing will be adjacent to or within existing ultra-Orthodox communities and new neighborhoods in mixed cities.

Additionally the committee announced a major building project in the central coastal city of Holon. About 14,000 new homes will be built as well as upgrades to the civic infrastructure and development of employment opportunities. The city is expected to grow by about 40,000 people by the year 2030.