Ahead of the cabinet meeting that will today approve the establishment of ten new settlements in the Negev, and following the massacre in Be'er Sheva, Minister of Communications Yoaz Handel proposes to adopt a policy of affirmative action against Bedouins who support the state.
In a letter sent Thursday to Prime Minister Bennett and senior ministers, Handel claims that the five-week plan for the development of the Negev approved by the government two weeks ago, which includes extensive chapters on the Bedouin population, is insufficient.
"Another fault line."
ZAKA volunteers at the scene of the attack in Be'er Sheva, Photo: AFP
"Investments and budgets do not bring about change alone," he wrote. "The deadly attack is another fault line of the loss of governance in the Negev. our".
Handel believes that the goal should be a return to the historical pattern that prevailed between the state and the Bedouin population until a few decades ago, when the majority of the Bedouin public was loyal to the state.
He said, "It is possible otherwise. In the past, most of the young people of Bedouin society would have enlisted and served in the army with pride. Today, under the auspices of alienation and rising nationalism, Bedouin recruitment stands at a few percent."
Minister Handel: "The State of Israel has chosen not to do good to the servants and not to punish the extremists, neither stick nor carrot. Not to decide is the worst decision. Now it is in our shift."
In practice, Handel offers a five-component program that includes affirmative action against Bedouin citizens who have served in the IDF. Employers;
Subsidy grant for residential development expenses for IDF servicemen; green route of bureaucracy with the establishment for servicemen; and priority for admission to jobs in factories and companies that open in the area.
Handel emphasizes that on the side of benefits to servants, zero tolerance should be taken towards any case of breach of law.
"In the face of nationalism, religious extremism and crime," he suggested, "an effective, decisive and uncompromising deterrent system must be produced."
Handel's outline for the preference for IDF servants, it should be noted, is in conflict with the legal policy that has been in place for decades, which has ruled out an affinity between service in the IDF and other benefits that the state can provide.
Handel is aware of the problem, but in closed-door talks says he will do his best to pursue such a policy.
Handel even raised this demand before the heads of the media companies working against him.
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