In recent weeks, a campaign on billboards against weapons in the Arab sector has been circulating throughout the city of Be'er Sheva.
The entrepreneur behind the campaign is Yossi Cohen, a resident of Omar who chose to fight the phenomenon on his own initiative and invest his private money in the struggle.
Cohen's campaign is already flooding the capital of the Negev, however he is seeking the full backing of the state.
In a conversation with Israel Today, he claims that the politicians are talking, but none of them has a matter-of-fact plan.
"Business people are required to present orderly plans in order to receive credit. I expect that the public sector will also move from talking to orderly plans, in order to gain the public's trust in dealing with problems that Negev residents have been suffering from for years," says Cohen.
Yossi Cohen, the entrepreneur behind the campaign, Photo: No credit
Cohen, 46, married and a father of three, a resident of Omer for 11 years and the owner of Habonim and Tzalala and a native of Beer Sheva, did not say at the beginning of the campaign that he was the man behind it.
Cohen says the state's helplessness led him to take action and launch the campaign.
Cohen decided to be exposed and tell about his home that was broken into three times in one week, about the normative and educated people in the sector who are forced by no choice to possess weapons to defend themselves, and about his demand for an orderly and comprehensive plan that will address a problem long-term, seriously and not publicly.
Cohen's struggle for a plan to save the Negev, Photo: No Credit
This week, after putting up the sign "Just because you have a weapon does not mean you are a man", Cohen posted a new sign and this time with the slogan "Khalas fidget! Demand a plan to save the Negev!".
Cohen says, "I am an entrepreneur who is willing to take money out of his pocket to promote change in behavior and policy and I am willing to be criticized for a defiant and provocative campaign as long as reality begins to change. People from the Jewish and Bedouin sectors are tired of promises and they want only one thing.
