Jerusalem, 27 March, 2022 (TPS) — The Cabinet approved on Sunday the proposal of Minister of the Interior Ayelet Shaked and the Minister of Construction and Housing, Zeev Elkin to establish five new towns in the northern Negev – the Mevo’ot Arad bloc.
One of the towns will be established for the Bedouin population.
“The decision is promoted in light of the importance of settling the northeastern region of the Beer Sheva metropolitan area, and in order to strengthen the existing settlement, as well as to continue the settlement continuum in the area between Meitar and Arad,” the government stated.
“The decision serves the government’s policy regarding investment in the periphery, increasing the supply of housing and strengthening the area in light of the IDF’s move to the Negev,” it added
Shaked stated that this decision is the second part of “one of the most exciting and historic decisions we have made in all my years as a minister in the Israeli governments. Ben-Gurion said ‘in the Negev, the people of Israel will be tested’ – well, we are definitely implementing his vision.”
“The settlement of the Negev and the control of land have great Zionist importance, but more than that, this decision has enormous strategic importance for strengthening governance in the Negev. The new settlements will make a great contribution to the Zionist enterprise and to the encouragement of new and young communities,” she added.
Minister of Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg, who voted against the decision, claimed that the project “is the opposite of strengthening the Negev – it will weaken the existing cities, it is an expensive and wasteful use of land and resources, and it is destructive to the open spaces. Today’s Zionism must move from land grabs to a worthy life – economically, socially and environmentally.”
The Regavim Movement called the decision a “positive and proactive Zionist settlement policy decision.”
Regavim’s statement pointed out that this decision affirms decisions taken by the previous Netanyahu government in 2011 and 2014.
“The Mevo’ot Arad region is a strategic area for the State of Israel, and strengthening this region through the establishment of new settlements is an expression of basic Zionist ideals, using planning and regulation of land resources for settlement in a manner that will make the Negev desert bloom,” Regavim stated.
Regavim also welcomed the establishment of a new Bedouin community in the region, “provided that it is established in accordance with the planning criteria set for the establishment of the other new settlements, and subject to the ‘convergence model’ for relocation of Bedouin squatters.”
“Several months ago, the government approved the establishment of three new settlements and a new supra-tribal city for the Bedouin sector, subject to the ‘convergence model’, which includes detailed identification of the encampment clusters slated for relocation, signed consent and relocation commitments by 70% of those slated for relocation to the new community, and clear deadlines for relocation. These same criteria must be applied to the new community approved in today’s decision,” Regavim demanded.