BICOM

One of the architects of the so-called Prawer plan, designed to regulate Bedouin settlement in the Negev region of southern Israel, said yesterday that the government had decided to suspend it.

Benny Begin, a former government minister and senior adviser on the Prawer plan, announced yesterday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had accepted his recommendation to “halt Knesset debate of the bill” to enact it. However, Begin added that Netanyahu agreed to “carry out the development plan for Bedouin settlements in the coming years,” indicating that the plan may be revised and reintroduced.

There are an estimated 200,000 Bedouin living in the Negev, many live in illegal villages and encampments without access to amenities and public services. A government commission paved the way for the Prawer plan to be drawn up. However, Begin’s revelation this week that he had consulted with the Bedouin community but had not discussed the final draft of the plan with them led to its unravelling, with both right-wing and left-wing opponents citing it as a reason to drop the bill.

Begin commented yesterday, “Right- and left-wing activists, Jews and Arabs, have tried to take advantage of Bedouin desperation to inflame the atmosphere to boiling point for their own political gain.” He added that the net result is that the “most deprived group in Israel [Bedouin]” face the same problems as they did before.

The Prawer plan would have seen the state compensate Bedouin with land claims with a combination of land and up to £1.24billion, while legalising unrecognised villages where the government deems it viable. Some 20,000 to 30,000 Bedouin would have been relocated to recognized Bedouin towns, with compensation, gaining better access to Israel’s utility networks and state services.

However, the plan was vehemently opposed by those objecting to moving Bedouin from land which they consider their own. In addition, some objected to disrupting the traditional Bedouin lifestyle by forcing Bedouin to settle in urban areas.