Minister Raises Alarm on Bedouin Negev Takeover

The housing crisis among Israel’s Bedouin is far from solved, despite recent government initiatives to provide solutions.

On the contrary, Housing and Construction Minister Yoav Galant (Kulanu) warned on Tuesday that a Bedouin takeover of state land had to be stopped.

During a tour of the Negev, Galant declared that “the state of Israel should outline the settlement of the Negev from the point of view of preventing the Bedouins from taking over the Negev and the infiltration of Palestinians from the South Chevron Hills into the region.”

“The settlement of the Arad Valley and the southern Chevron hills must be under the full control of the State of Israel in order to ensure its sovereignty,” he said.

“Israel has room for all, including the Bedouin,” he added. “They all have equal rights. But we must also fulfill our obligations, and one of them is not to [let someone else] seize control of the land in the Negev – land which was claimed by the blood of our soldiers in the War of Independence.”

In a separate tour, Health Minister UTJ MK Rabbi Yaakov Litzman and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) said they viewed with favor an increase in health services for the Bedouin population, including: more ambulances, children’s dental care and infant child care.

At a visit to a Bedouin convalescence center in Tel Sheva, Rabbi Litzman told reporters: “There’s a need for change in medical services in the Negev region in general, and in the Bedouin community in particular. We will endeavor to bring better health services to the general population, but with a stress on the periphery,” he said.