Bedouin Fight Israeli Relocation Bill
The Israeli parliament has ratified a bill for the relocation of Bedouin from “unrecognized” settlements to permanent villages, despite objections by the Bedouin community.
On June 24, the Prawer Bill — the government plan for regulating unrecognized Bedouin settlements in the southern Negev region and resolving disputes over land ownership — passed the first Knesset reading.
The bill, formulated by former Likud minister Benny Begin, implements the recommendations of a committee headed by former Justice Eliezer Goldberg to examine the issue of Bedouin settlements in the Negev and to offer solutions.
The approval of the bill in the Knesset, by a narrow margin of 43 votes in favor versus 40 opposed, stirred up a storm in the parliament's plenum. Arab Knesset members Ahmad Tibi, Jamal Zahalka and Mohammad Barakeh walked out during the vote. Once back in the plenum hall, they each tore up a copy of the bill in front of cameras.
If the Prawer Bill passes the second and third Knesset readings, it will empower the government to dismantle the illegal settlements of the Bedouin community and move their residents into permanent settlements built for them.
