Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) amended the decision to connect illegal Bedouin villages to the local water system, and will allow only legal villages to be connected.
Arutz Sheva spoke with Settlement Authority for the Bedouin in the Negev Head Yair Maayan regarding Ariel's decision and its affect on the Bedouin population.
"We are obligated to provide basic services to all Bedouin residents, so most of the Bedouin are connected to running water," Maayan said. He added that currently, not every family has its own water meter, so the payment is not organized and the prices are high.
In order to solve this problem, authorities intended to connect all the Bedouin villages to the water companies, but Ariel then decided to "connect only the legal [villages], and not those which are slated for relocation."
According to Maayan, there are two reasons for Ariel's decision. Firstly, there is no reason to invest in water meters for residents who will be relocated anyways. Secondly, connecting only those families who live in legal villages provides an incentive to those living in illegal villages to relocate.
"Every Bedouin citizen has running water, as per the court's decision," Maayan emphasized. "The only question is how he is connected to the water pipes, and the quality of that connection."
Regarding the illegal building rampant in Bedouin areas, Maayan said, "In the past year, we began developing organized neighborhoods with over 10,000 housing units, and we will continue this work in the coming year. We are working to market [legal housing], and regulate and enforce the law in illegal Bedouin villages. As a result, there has been a 30% drop in the amount of illegal building, and several groups of Bedouin have moved to legal villages."
Obviously, he noted, the relocation is done in cooperation with the relevant local authorities.
Regarding whether the Bedouin clans cooperate, Maayan said the cooperation is a result of legal proceedings, and comes after a lengthy legal process and law enforcement efforts.
