Despite publications on massive investments in the Negev, a letter sent by the Director General of the Authority Yair Maayan reveals violence against it • "These are cases of transverse phenomenon"

• Unknown Bedouin settlement in the Negev // Photo: Tzahi Miriam

While the Bedouin settlement authority boasts of the massive investments it is making in the Negev, to develop infrastructure and establish new neighborhoods for the Bedouin population, a letter sent by the director-general Yair Golan to the Prime Minister's Office, revealed today in "Israel Today", shows under publications Authority to deal with severe violence by elements in the Bedouin population who oppose the Authority's plans.

The letter from Malin notes the "recurring threat to the contractors and engineers operating in the field on behalf of the authority has increased in recent weeks, which severely impairs the construction procedures in the field", and details the reality with which the authority's employees and the contractors in the field have to deal with.

Bedouin settlement authority contractor describes violence in Bir Dodge

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Among other things, the CEO of the Authority presents a case that occurred last December in the Bir Dodge settlement where the authority is working to develop the local infrastructure. On the 18th, the local residents who fired shots fired at the contractor who carried them, the tools on the spot and threatened another worker. The contractor stopped his work at the site.

In another case mentioned in the letter, which happened during a tour of the PA contractor in Segev Shalom town, the contractor encountered threats, some weapons and disturbances on the part of families in the locality, until he left. The contractor then returned to a settlement accompanied by a family - but even then he suffered threats and the vehicle surveyor's vehicle was set on fire. One of the menaces was a member of the community council.

Violent opposition to eviction. Unknown settlement in the Negev // Photo: Dudu Grinshpan

In Umm Batin, the authority contractor encountered violent incidents on the part of one of the families, until he was forced to pay family support during his work to promote a construction project that was born to families living on the planned Route 6 South. After the contractor passed a sponsor fee, the families opposing the project began threatening the families negotiating with the goal of moving into the neighborhood, and did not allow them to enter the area. After these events, the contractor also left the area in this case.

Maayan summed up the events in the letter, saying that "these are not specific cases but a transverse phenomenon that impedes the chances of hundreds of Bedouin families entering the series," due to the fact that the inability to realize the projects effectively neutralized a major part of the Authority's work. Maayan also calls for an "urgent discussion in the presence of all enforcement agencies with the aim of discussing the phenomenon and finding solutions to it."