For years, the Israeli government has attempted to counter the loss of governance and the spread of illegal squatters' camps in southern Israel by offering "compensation" payments and free land to the Bedouin of the Negev – who continue to reject any and all of the government’s increasingly generous offers, because they know that their hardball tactics will be rewarded with more attractive offers as time goes by.
The Regavim Movement has launched a new campaign to address this massive – and growing – problem. The first video clip of the campaign illustrates where the Negev is headed, and what Israel will look like when the Bedouin "country-within-a-country" is established.
Regavim's campaign is a response to a string of recent incidents that have highlighted the anarchy that continues to plague the Negev. The campaign calls upon the Israeli government to put a stop to the downward spiral, and to prevent the creation of a state-within-the-state in the Negev.
In recent years, the State of Israel seems to have lost its grip: Sovereignty in the southern region of Israel has been relinquished to the state that is slowly being built in the Negev. More and more illegal enclaves continue to spring up throughout the territory – and all the while, the Israeli government continues to turn a blind eye.
The takeover of the territory through the construction of tens of thousands of illegal structures has been accompanied by a complete breakdown of governance and the loss of personal security for all the residents of the area - Jews and Bedouin alike.
Gangs of criminals continue to invade IDF bases and steal weapons and other equipment; they assault soldiers in broad daylight on main roads and snatch their weapons without fear. Adding insult to injury, the bandits record themselves in real time – marauding on IDF bases, smuggling drugs, shooting up residential neighborhoods with automatic weapons - and upload the videos to social media.
The constant stream of shocking news from the Negev led to the Regavim Movement's decision to address the issues head on - before the loss of control reaches the point of no return.
Regavim CEO Meir Deutsch explained: "Ben-Gurion, who famously declared that the resolve of the People of Israel will be tested and proved in the Negev, must be turning over in his grave at the sight of the abandonment of the Negev and the devolution of southern Israel into an ex-territorial no man's land."
"Instead of increasing enforcement and governance, instead of iron-fisted rule of law and the dissolution of the illegal squatters' camps, the Israeli government is whitewashing and 'legalizing' them, perpetuating and enabling the Bedouin takeover."