Netanyahu shelves controversial Bedouin resettlement plan

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to shelve a controversial plan to resettle tens of thousands of Bedouin in the Negev that had ignited violent protests, an adviser to his government said on Thursday.

Former Likud minister Benny Begin, who co-authored the plan with Ehud Prawer, told reporters Netanyahu had accepted his proposals to "halt Knesset debate of the bill", which would mean removing it from Knesset's agenda.

Begin said Netanyahu had also agreed to "carry out the development plan for Bedouin settlements in the coming years", suggesting that the plan would be revised rather than shelved.

An official in Netanyahu's office sent reporters copies of Begin's remarks at a news conference held in Tel Aviv, but spokesmen for the prime minister declined any comment. A statement was sent from the Prime Minister's Office in Tel Aviv, saying: "Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked Begin for his immense effort in working to regulate Bedouin settlement in the Negev. Benny faithfully took on the national mission and did so with determination worthy of praise. We will continue to work to find a solution to this important issue for the sake of all Negev residents," the statement read.

Begin told reporters that attempts to "introduce far-reaching changes to the government's wording" led him to request docking the bill.

"Right and left-wing activists, Jews and Arabs, have tried to take advantage of the Bedouin's desperation to inflame the atmosphere to a boiling point for their own political gain," Begin said.

"We cannot allow a hostile takeover of the legislation or allow it to be hijacked or distorted," Begin said, describing his proposal to delay implementation as "the lesser evil ... Those who profiteer from hardship may be able to net certain gains and even secure a place in the Knesset, but they cannot overcome the reality in the Negev."

Coalition Chairman MK Yariv Levin (Likud), who had tried to alter the original Prawer plan's wording, praised the decision to shelve the bill: "After a long struggle, the proposal in its current erroneous wording has been blocked, and good thing that it was. I am already working on a new draft that will focus on protecting the state's land and dealing with squatters."

Labor MK Omer Bar-Lev praised Netanyahu's decision: "As former minister Begin said, we must invest billions to regulate the recognized [Bedouin] villages and connect them to electricity and water." Bar-Lev chairs the Knesset lobby representing the Bedouin population.

MK Tamar Zandberg (Meretz) called the decision a big win. "This is a big win for those opposing the plan. The plan was a bad and there was no choice but to cancel it."

Members of the Bedouin community also welcomed the decision. "We are pleased with the decision to freeze the Prawer plan talks, and we all hope the plan is cancelled altogether. We knew from the beginning that this plan was no solution to the problem, and would only add more difficulties the hardships we deal with," the chairman of the regional council for unrecognized villages in the Negev, Watiyeh Al-Assam, said.

Not everyone was happy with the decision however. Likud MK Reuven Rivlin said he was worried that Israel was missing "a historic opportunity to regulate the state's relations with the Bedouin population. The formulation of the Prawer plan was balanced, and retreating from it could end up burying the agreement for generations," he said.

Netanyahu's government introduced the measure in parliament earlier this year. It calls for moving the Bedouin from unrecognized villages into seven townships, saying this would improve their standard of living and develop the Negev desert.

Many Bedouin reject any effort to dislodge them from their homes, saying Israel could authorize existing communities to provide better schools, electricity, water and roads.

The bill had been bogged down in a parliamentary committee, where far-rightists opposed its offer of cash and land ownership to the Bedouin, while left-wing lawmakers argued that it sought to uproot Arabs so as to expand housing for Jews.

Rare demonstrations that spanned Israel and the Palestinian territories over the issue led to clashes last month between security forces and protesters.

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