154461816 The full translated text of Israel s Prawer Plan [Emblem]
State
of
Israel
Regulating
the
Status
of
Bedouin
Settlement
in
the
Negev
Summary
of
the
Process
of
Consultation
with
the
Public
Regarding
the
Draft
Law
for
the
Regulation
of
Bedouin
Settlement
in
the
Negev
and
Recommendations
Relating
to
Policy
and
Amendments
to
the
Draft
Law*
Submitted
to
the
Government
by
Ze'ev
B.
Begin
Jerusalem,
12
Shevat
5773,
23.1.13
*Translated
by
Adalah
–
The
Legal
Center
for
Arab
Minority
Rights
in
Israel
and
The
Association
for
Civil
Rights
in
Israel
(ACRI)
A.
Introduction
On
11.9.11,
the
government
approved
Decision
no.
3707,
adopting
the
report
of
the
implementation
team
of
the
Goldberg
Commission
recommendations
regarding
the
issue
of
the
Bedouins
in
the
Negev
(Naqab),
("the
Prawer
Plan").
Together
with
it
a
draft
law
was
published
regarding
the
regulation
of
the
settlement
of
the
Bedouins
in
the
Negev.
The
government's
decision
also
determined
that
a
special
process
of
consultation
with
the
public
would
be
conducted
over
the
course
of
six
weeks.
The
consultation
process
was
extended
to
more
than
three
months
and
included
tens
of
meetings
with
individuals,
groups
and
organizations,
mostly
from
the
Negev
(Annex
1).
The
active
dialogue
with
the
public
gave
rise
to
insights
which
exposed
the
need
for
certain
changes
in
the
draft
law,
but
also
revealed
the
need
to
preserve
the
basic
structure
of
the
law,
including
the
finality
of
the
arrangement
and
the
provision
of
means
necessary
for
realizing
it.
This
report
concludes
a
complex
five‐year
process
for
determining
government
policy
regarding
this
matter
and,
in
accordance
with
the
recommendations
included
herein,
a
revised
law
draft
was
prepared
by
the
Ministry
of
Justice.
The
following
presents
the
principal
issues
and
the
ensuing
recommendations:
B.
The
National
Framework
The
development
of
the
Negev
is
one
of
the
most
important
national
tasks
in
the
coming
decade
and
the
government
has
decided
to
advance
it
in
various
ways.
This
development
is
based,
among
other
things,
on
the
Master
Plan
for
Metropolitan
Beer
Sheba
(Annex
2),
which
constitutes
the
regional
framework
for
comprehensive
planning
and
for
the
development
of
existing
and
new
settlements.
Without
formalizing
the
status
of
their
settlement,
the
Bedouins
will
not
be
able
to
benefit
from
the
many
resources
that
will
be
made
available
to
the
Negev
in
the
coming
years,
and
it
will
not
be
possible
to
fully
fulfill
the
task
of
developing
the
Northern
Negev
for
all
of
its
residents.
C.
The
Need
The
Bedouins
in
the
Negev,
today
numbering
approximately
200,000
persons,
are
citizens
with
equal
rights
in
the
State
of
Israel
and
as
such
are
entitled
to
an
economic‐social
framework
that
will
enable
them
to
realize
the
opportunities
for
growth
that
are
available
to
citizens
of
Israel.
However,
the
Bedouins
in
the
Negev
2
are
members
of
the
most
impoverished
group
in
Israel
and
their
destitution
is
accompanied
by
social
problems
that
demand
a
comprehensive
solution.
Hence,
it
is
the
government's
responsibility
to
take
action
in
order
to
enable
the
Bedouins
to
extricate
themselves
from
these
circumstances
and
to
grant
them,
and
particularly
the
younger
generation
the
tools
necessary
to
successfully
cope
with
the
challenges
of
the
future.
(Approximately
120,000
Bedouins
are
under
the
age
of
18,
and
tens
of
thousands
more
will
be
added
in
the
coming
decade)
Much
work
needs
to
be
done
and
time
is
short.
In
the
coming
decade,
a
development
momentum
is
expected
in
the
Northern
Negev
due
to
the
relocation
of
IDF
[Israel
Defense
Forces,
Israeli
army]
camps
to
the
Beer
Sheba
region.
Approximately
20
billion
Shekels
were
allocated
solely
for
the
construction
of
these
camps,
and
it
is
possible
to
assume
that
an
additional,
significant
sum
of
money
will
be
invested
in
the
surrounding
infrastructure
for
their
development
needs.
In
this
situation,
we
have
before
us
a
special
opportunity
for
creating
conditions
that
will
make
it
possible
for
the
Bedouin
community
in
the
Negev
to
be
a
part
of
the
prosperity
anticipated
for
the
Beer
Sheba
region.
A
10
year
old
child
will
be
20
in
a
decade
and
the
time
to
properly
develop
his
abilities
is
in
the
coming
years.
The
necessary
solution
for
this
end
is,
however,
complex
and
multi‐faceted.
The
Goldberg
Commission
(2008,
Section
72)
related
to
the
complexity
of
the
solution:
"an
integrated,
encompassing
solution
is
required
to
the
issue
of
land
and
the
matters
of
settlement
planning,
employment
and
education,
as
these
are
part
of
the
question
of
the
conditions
of
life
in
the
settlements
(both
those
that
are
recognized
and
those
that
will
be
recognized)".
The
issue
of
the
Bedouins
in
the
Negev
involves
fundamental
questions
regarding
the
definition
of
proper
relations
between
the
state
and
its
citizens,
between
a
majority
and
a
minority,
between
society
as
a
whole
and
the
individual,
and
between
the
individual
and
society.
The
public
discourse
regarding
this
issue
also
raises
disputes
within
Bedouin
society
between
tradition
and
change,
adults
and
youths,
women
and
men,
between
Bedouins
who
claim
ownership
of
property
and
those
who
do
not
make
this
claim,
between
those
who
claim
ownership
of
land
that
lays
within
the
boundaries
of
recognized
planned
settlements
and
those
who
claim
land
outside
them,
between
the
burden
of
the
past
and
hopes
for
the
future.
The
lack
of
trust
of
the
government
that
the
Bedouins
feel
hinders
this
discourse,
and
the
slogans
uttered
by
those
who
deny
any
compromise,
Bedouins
and
Jews
alike,
threaten
it.
During
the
dialogue
with
the
public,
we
heard
many
expressions
of
the
Bedouins'
identification
with
the
state
and
their
wish
to
solve
their
problems,
so
that
they
will
not
be
a
burden
and
can
integrate
properly
into
Israeli
society.
Moreover,
we
were
witness
to
the
feelings
of
injustice
and
the
demands
to
amend
it
and
heard
serious
3
objections
to
the
government's
plan,
the
draft
law
and
also
proposals
for
their
improvement.
However,
we
also
heard
proposals
that
disregard
reality
and
its
constraints.
Within
the
theoretical
discussion
of
the
issue
of
the
Bedouins
in
the
Negev
in
recent
years,
concepts
such
as
"transitional
justice"
(during
a
change
of
sovereignty),
property
rights
of
semi‐nomads
and
"indigenous
rights"
have
been
raised.
These
concepts
are
not
appropriate
to
reality,
and
this
discourse,
as
interesting
and
thought
provoking
as
it
is,
has
not
so
far
produced
a
feasible
solution
to
the
difficult
problem
we
face,
one
that
would
be
in
line
with
the
limitations
of
economic,
legal,
social
and
political
reality.
It
must
also
be
noted
that
as
there
is
no
joint
community
claim
of
land
ownership,
only
a
cluster
of
private
claims,
it
is
difficult
to
view
them
as
an
expression
of
"distributional
justice"
since
the
claimants
comprise
a
small
minority
of
the
population
of
Bedouins
in
the
Negev,
and
the
distribution
of
the
land
between
them
is
not
equal
in
any
way.
The
demand
for
the
realization
of
all
of
the
claims
of
the
Bedouins
does
not
bring
a
solution
any
closer,
the
opposite
is
true,
and
time
for
an
efficient
and
pragmatic
solution
of
the
problem
is
coming
running
out.
Those
who
demand
the
full
realization
of
all
of
the
ownership
claims
for
a
minority
of
the
Bedouins
on
the
basis
of
"absolute
justice"
must
not
be
allowed
to
deny
over
100,000
Bedouin
children
the
conditions
vital
for
a
better
future
that
will
be
based
on
a
compromise.
The
implementation
of
the
principles
of
social
justice
to
Bedouin
children
in
the
Negev
and
to
their
families
is
the
obligation
of
the
state
which
must,
within
a
few
years,
advance
a
reasonable
solution
that
will
help
them
exploit
their
talents
and
realize
their
natural
right
to
happiness
just
like
any
other
child
in
Israel.
We
must
not
reconcile
ourselves
to
the
conditions
in
which
the
Bedouins
live
in
the
Negev,
and
in
order
to
change
these
an
effort
must
be
made
by
both
the
government
and
the
Bedouin
population
and
its
leaders.
There
is
no
escaping
the
recognition
of
the
limitations
of
the
legal
framework
and
of
the
social
and
political
conditions
that
prevail
in
the
country
and,
therefore,
it
must
not
be
anticipated
that
there
will
be
conclusive
plans
that
will
please
everyone.
In
the
words
of
Justice
Goldberg
in
the
report
summarizing
the
deliberations
of
the
commission
he
headed
(Section
71):
"Beyond
the
legal
aspect,
a
pragmatic
initiative
is
required
that
will
lead
to
a
fair
and
feasible
solution
of
the
struggle
over
the
land
and
the
dispute
over
settlement".
Following
a
public
process
of
consultation
regarding
the
government's
decision
of
11.9.11,
the
government
proposed
this
pragmatic
initiative,
and
we
are
now
at
a
propitious
time
which
still
makes
a
solution
possible.
This
opportunity
must
not
be
missed
as
the
postponement
of
the
solution
proposed
here
will
only
worsen
existing
hardships
to
the
point
of
creating
a
dead
end,
a
situation
that
will
command
4
an
economic,
social
and
human
price
from
Bedouin
society
and
all
other
inhabitants
of
the
Negev.
D.
Government
Actions
for
the
Economic
and
Social
Advancement
of
the
Bedouins
in
the
Negev
In
order
to
advance
the
social
and
economic
growth
of
the
Bedouins
in
the
Negev,
even
before
the
completion
of
the
planning
of
the
settlements,
and
prior
to
the
settlement
of
the
claims
of
land
ownership,
the
present
government
allocated
vast
resources
for
social,
economic
and
physical
development,
and
approved
a
detailed
plan,
budgeted
at
1.2
billion
shekels,
for
the
coming
five
years
that
will
be
allocated
to
the
following
areas:
employment
(360
million
shekels),
education
(90
million
shekels),
infrastructure
supporting
employment
and
education
with
an
emphasis
on
transportation
infrastructure
(450
million
shekels),
personal
security
(215
million
shekels)
and
social
and
community
needs
(90
million
shekels).
This
plan,
exceptional
in
its
scope,
is
administered
by
the
Headquarters
for
the
Implementation
of
the
Settlement
and
the
Economic
Development
of
the
Bedouins
in
the
Negev
in
the
Prime
Minister's
office,
and
supplements
the
annual
allocation
for
physical
infrastructure
in
the
settlements
totaling
a
quarter
of
a
billion
shekels,
which
is
administered
by
the
Authority
for
the
Regulation
of
the
Bedouin
Settlement
in
the
Negev.
Therefore,
beyond
the
regular
government
ministries’
budgets
in
the
coming
years,
the
government
plans
to
invest,
approximately
half
a
billion
shekels
annually
directly
to
the
development
and
advancement
of
the
Bedouins
in
the
Negev.
In
this
regard,
it
is
worth
noting
the
cooperation
that
is
developing
between
the
leadership
of
the
Bedouin
settlements
and
the
Jews
in
the
Negev.
In
this
framework,
employment
centers
are
planned
in
the
Bedouin
settlements
in
the
Negev
that
will
provide
comprehensive
services
in
the
field
of
employment.
In
addition,
industrial
and
employment
zones
will
be
established
for
the
Bedouin
settlements,
an
example
for
which
is
the
"Of
Oz"
plant
located
in
Segev
Shalom
which
employs
seven
hundred
workers,
half
of
them
Bedouin
women,
and
the
Idan
Hanegev
industrial
zone
near
the
Bedouin
town
of
Rahat,
which
is
shared
by
Rahat
and
the
Bnei
Shimon
and
Lehavim
councils
where,
among
other
industries,
a
"Soda
Stream"
factory
will
be
built
which
is
expected
to
employ
a
thousand
workers.
In
addition,
today
the
biggest
real
estate
enterprise
in
the
country
is
in
Rahat,
providing
a
framework
for
a
response
to
the
anticipated
and
substantial
population
growth
of
Rahat,
up
to
80,000
within
several
years,
through
the
construction
of
4500
housing
units
in
the
southern
part
of
the
town,
whose
plan
permits
multi‐storied
buildings.
The
demand
for
this
project
–
whose
architectural
plan
won
a
prize
of
the
International
Society
of
City
and
Regional
Planners
(ISOCARP
)
–
exceeds
the
supply.
5
