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The officials are once again dragging their feet, preventing the fulfillment of the vision of settling the Negev

In a few days, elected officials from both the right and the left will go to the grave of the Prime Minister and the first Minister of Defense of the State of Israel at Ben Gurion College and declare, once again, how important it is to settle the Negev.

Despite the statements, the planning bureaus continue to prevent the strengthening of the periphery

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• David Ben Gurion

• periphery

• Negev

Eran Doron

Tuesday, 09 November 2021, 02:27

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On the evening of Yom Kippur 1946, 11 new settlement points were established in the Negev overnight in the largest pre-state settlement operation, with the aim of including the Negev in the territory of the future State of Israel. Thanks to the same operation, in paraphrase, according to Tal Brody, "the Negev is on the map and remains on the map."

From the days before the establishment of the state until today, all the leaders of the nation saw the importance of the settlement of the Negev and the Galilee, as reflected in the guidelines of the various governments, both current and recent: "Rural settlement must be strengthened" Will work to strengthen the periphery, the Negev, the Galilee ... "(35th government)," The government will set as a national goal the development of the geographical and social periphery ... will work for the strengthening of the Negev and the Galilee "(34th government).

But with all due respect to baselines and statements, the gap between them and actual reality is huge. In Israel in 2021, the consolidation of existing localities will take on average more than a decade and most likely there will be no new localities in the Negev. This is because it contradicts the perception of the Planning Bureau - those who refer to government decisions as a recommendation only, will say there in the bureau "politicians are corrupt and do not know what is good and what is right."

The fact that governments have been democratically elected to advance their policies does not prevent many officials from simply repeatedly thwarting attempts by Israeli governments to act in accordance with their conception. Ask MK Yoav Galant, for example, what is left of the government's decision to establish five settlements in the Negev (and again, the question is not whether this is true or not, but in the hands of those who have the authority and responsibility).

Any ministerial statement or government decision on the establishment of new settlements in the periphery is followed by a pabulistic response of actual opposition by the officials.

The policy of planning institutions in Israel is to densify cities and thicken existing localities and to oppose the establishment of new localities.

There is a lot of economic, environmental and social logic in this policy but as always, God is in the small details.

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The failure of the vision.

Ben Gurion (Photo: GettyImages)

The following is an example: In Ramat Hanegev, the largest council in its territory in a country that dominates 4.2 million dunams, of which 98% are fire areas and nature reserves, only about 8,500 residents live. About two decades ago, it was approved to establish a new settlement called Neve Tamarim, which should contain up to 2,000 units, near the Kibbutz Revivim, the religious-national settlement of Kfar Retamim and the Bedouin settlement of Bir Hadaj, which has about 9,000 residents.

The locality does not compete with the target audience of the localities adjacent to it. It is located adjacent to existing localities, so that it will increase the number of residents in the area and increase the viability of providing services to the area such as medical, employment, trade and cultural services, and allow families interested in living in a rural community to settle the Negev. Although the decision to establish Neve Tamarim passed two government decisions, the first in 1999 and the second in 2018, the light is not yet visible at the end of the tunnel of the planning institutions, due to opposition in principle from the planning bureaus.

But in a reality where most of the area in the Negev is used as a fire area or nature reserve, the ability to really establish new settlements and thicken the existing ones is very limited.

Unfortunately, the planning bureaus have never tried to deal with the IDF and its demands, which are obtained automatically by using section 16 of the Planning and Building Law, or by fully backing the green bodies to declare nature reserves. Based on the principles of environmental Zionism: to continue the settlement enterprise in the Negev while conserving environmental resources for future generations.

Strengthening and developing the Negev.

Ramat Hanegev (Photo: Official Website, Alona Miller)

A few days ago, the government decided to regulate three Bedouin localities in the Negev.

One of the localities, Abda, is located in the area of ​​the Ramat Hanegev Regional Council and I am a partner in its regulation.

The regulation of the Bedouin diaspora and the expansion of Jewish settlement in the Negev are two sides of the same coin, strengthening and developing the Negev.

Unfortunately, on these two issues the actual state is dragging its feet.

In a few days, elected officials, from right and left, will go to the grave of the Prime Minister and the first Minister of Defense of the State of Israel at Ben Gurion College and declare in front of the amazing views of the Zin Valley, once again, how important it is to settle the Negev.

And maybe every now and then, you should stop releasing statements and start releasing barriers?

Planning Bureau first.

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