Negev Bedouin
Negev BedouinFlash 90

The details of the coalition agreements publicized in the media Sunday evening reveal that Yamina's Chairman, MK Naftali Bennett, and New Hope Chairman, MK Gideon Sa'ar, who blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the failure of governance in the Negev, are not only failing to provide solutions – they are exacerbating the problem.

In a statement the Regavim organization pointed out that aside from approving the whitewashing of thousands of illegal structures on about 11,000 dunams (2,718 acres) of land to create "three new communities," the coalition agreements do not stipulate what will happen to the rest of the illegal Bedouin squatters' camps nine months from now.

In addition, neither Bennett’s Yamina Party nor Sa'ar’s New Hope Party will have the ability to influence the outcome in a government kept afloat by Mansour Abbas and the Islamist Ra'am (United Arab List) party.

The coalition agreements place both the Bedouin Settlement Authority and the Knesset’s Interior Committee, the key actors in the Negev issue, under the complete control of the left-wing bloc and Ra'am.

This situation has unparalleled destructive potential, setting a course for total abandonment of the Negev while rewarding rampant illegal Bedouin construction that imperils the healthy development of the Negev, which is home to the vast majority of the State of Israel’s land reserves.

In addition, the plans for new towns which required the demolition of illegal Bedouin construction will need to be scrapped, since the illegal construction is slated to be legalized under the new government.