C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 000350
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2019
TAGS: ECON, PGOV, SOCI, PREL, EFIN, ELAB, EIND, IS
SUBJECT: GOI ESTABLISHES COMMISION ON ILLEGAL BEDOUIN
SETTLEMENTS IN THE NEGEV
1.(C) BEGIN SUMMARY: On January 18 the Israeli Cabinet voted
to approve the outline of the Goldberg Committee Report on
the issue of illegal settlements by Bedouin citizens in the
Negev Desert. The report recommended that the GOI legitimize
about 46 unrecognized Bedouin villages and encourage Bedouin
whose settlements cannot be lawfully recognized to relocate
to the northern Negev. The Cabinet voted to form a
commission responsible for finding means to implement the
report's recommendations. Ehud "Udi" Praver, the PM,s
manager of policy and planning for minority communities, was
appointed head of the commission. The PM asked Praver to
present the commission's findings to the Cabinet within six
months. Aiman Saif, Director of the Authority for the
Economic Development of the Arab Sector in the Prime
Minister's Office, characterized the plan to relocate Bedouin
as very good. He was not optimistic about its success,
however. Saif told econoff that he did not believe that
there would be enough Bedouins living in illegal settlements
willing to take advantage of the GOI's economic incentives in
exchange for relocation. Regardless of the outcome, the
report's recommendations and the GOI's commitment to act on
them are major advances in solving a historical problem in
Israel. END SUMMARY
THE GOLDBERG REPORT
2.(U) On December 11 the Committee for the Regulation of the
Bedouin Settlements in the Negev, chaired by retired Supreme
Court Justice Eliezer Goldberg, presented the Ministry of
Housing and Construction with its findings. The report
recommended that the GOI recognize about 46 Bedouin villages
in the Negev desert. The villages, which are currently
considered illegal, house approximately 62,000 people. Most
of the illegal settlements' population holds Israeli
citizenship. The Goldberg report also recommended that the
state assist Bedouin whose settlements cannot be lawfully
recognized in relocating to the northern Negev. While the
finding generally called for measures that would "prevent the
perpetuation of (the Bedouin,s) unbearable state," it also
called for strict enforcement of any future infraction of
Israel's construction laws. It recommended that the state
establish an independent, public corporation to regulate
Bedouin settlements.
PM FORMS COMMISSION TO IMPLEMENT REPORT,S RECOMMENDATIONS
3.(U) During the January 18 Cabinet meeting, PM Olmert called
the need for finding a solution to the problem "important"
and said, "we are expressing the true feelings which Israel
has for all of its citizens, including its Arab citizens, who
are an inseparable part of the nation, in order to take care
of the issues which have vexed, troubled and marred their
lives for many years."
4.(U) Together with Lirit Sarphus, a former educator in
Jerusalem, Praver outlined the plan he intends to develop in
the next six months. He suggested a defined, concentrated
plan of dispersal, a defined time-frame in which to do it,
and he suggested that financial incentives would be necessary
to encourage complete communities to reach a compromise on
relocation. Furthermore, Praver said a concentrated
evacuation plan of any illegal structures be implemented
after the defined time period in which to reconcile expires.
PROBABILITY OF RELOCATION REMAINS IN DOUBT
5.(C) In a conversation with the director of the Authority
for the Economic Development of the Arab Sector in the Prime
Minister's office, Aiman Saif, himself an Arab-Israeli, told
econoff that prospects for the plan's success remain in doubt
due mostly to the size of the economic incentives the GOI is
willing to commit to Bedouin who agree to relocate. He
praised the report's recommendation to recognize illegal
settlements and said that the measures to be implemented by
the committee would undoubtedly have a positive effect on the
dire economic situation of the Bedouin. He focused on the
relocation plan, however, as the primary difficulty in
resolving the problem. Saif said that the Ministry of
Finance (FM) had vetoed the original formula for calculating
the economic incentive proposed by the PM's office in favor
of one that would provide a lesser incentive.
Representatives of the Bedouin were divided in their opinion
on the size of the incentive ultimately approved by the FM,
said Saif. Some accepted it as enough, but many felt it was
too little to compel them to leave their current homes. Saif
said that the GOI hoped that the Bedouin originally opposed
would eventually begin to concede and follow others who would
more quickly accept the incentive once relocation begins.
Saif was not optimistic, however, that this would succeed.
When asked about the possibilities that the committee would
be dissolved or its plan ignored by a new Israeli government
come February or March, Saif said he believed the new
government, whatever its composition, would likely support
the initiative and allow it to be carried out.
6.(U) A press statement released by the Regional Council of
Unrecognized Villages (RCUV) harshly critized the Goldberg
report, saying its recommendations did "not meet the minimum
demands of the people." The RCUV condemned the comission for
never explicity recognizing the right of the Negev Arabs to
the land they occupy, and called the recommendations the
"latest ploy to complete (the) policy of confiscation and
seizure of Bedouin land that began in 1948." The RCUV
emphasized its position that recognition of these rights is
the only just solution for the plight of the Bedouin. The
press release stated unequivocally that the RCUV would oppose
the recommendations of the Goldberg report.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND COMMENT
7.(U) The Bedouin hold the lowest socioeconomic status in
Israel, forming the poorest segment of Israel's already
depressed Arab sector. Integrating them into mainstream
society has proved extremely difficult due to their migratory
patterns and poor educational status. Their ability to
organize or bargain collectively is minimal and they have not
been historically successful in advocating for their
interests in the government. The GOI has failed to provide
Bedouin villiages with basic services such as education,
electricity, water, telephone, or sewerage and the majority
of the population lives under the poverty line. While many
left-wing activists in Israel have applauded the findings of
the Goldberg report, right-wing opinions in opposition have
also been voiced in the media. The right wing draws
parallels between the situation of Jewish settlers in the
territories and that of the Bedouins within green-line
Israel. According to the press, some right-wing spokesmen
have called for the expansion of Jewish settlements in the
territories in exchange for the legalization of the Bedouins'
settlements in the Negev.
8.(U) Bedouin groups express disappointment at the prospect
of having to relocate and lose their rights to what they
claim is their land. There are also disagreements among them
regarding the fairness of the economic incentives offered by
the GOI to relocate. Nevertheless, the report and the
commission that it has created can be viewed as a positive
turn of events for Bedouin rights. The GOI is interested in
resolving several land disputes and land use issues in the
northern Negev that the ever-expanding, illegal Bedouin
communities complicate.
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CUNNINGHAM