Israeli settlements threaten Negev once again
The Negev Desert is threatened by huge settlement projects that the Israeli government is planning to implement in order to force the Bedouins into small population clusters.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Israeli government has recently approved more settlement projects within the Green Line, and in the 1967 occupied territories in the West Bank and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
On Dec. 26, the Israeli government approved a settlement plan in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights worth 1 billion Israeli shekels ($323 million). On Dec. 28, Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked announced the establishment of four settlements in the Negev Desert to bring in 3,000 Jewish families. This is part of a larger plan to establish 10 to 12 settlements in the Negev. The plan also includes implementing “national” infrastructure and industry projects, such as the high-voltage electricity project, railway project and phosphate factories.
