A delegation of rabbis affiliated with T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights urged the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office to withdraw the “Bill on the Arrangement of Bedouin Settlement in the Negev,” also known as the Prawer-Begin Plan Bill. The Prawer-Begin Plan is expected to lead to the displacement of an estimated 30,000-40,000 Bedouin Israeli citizens from their homes and the demolition of Bedouin villages.
At a meeting in New York, T’ruah presented a petition from more than 780 rabbis, cantors, rabbinical students, and cantorial students to Major General (res.) Doron Almog, Director of the Headquarters for Economic Community Development of the Negev Bedouins in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. Last week, Rabbis for Human Rights presented the Knesset’s Interior Committee with a copy of the letter on the opening day of Committee hearings on the Bill on the Arrangement of Bedouin Settlement in the Negev.
On Monday, T’ruah asked Almog to personally deliver the letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu and get the delegation a written response by the end of November, commit that the Israeli Government will refrain from demolishing Bedouin villages without the inhabitants’ agreement to relocate, and ensure that armed security forces and anti-riot techniques will not be used to destroy Bedouin homes and disperse non-violent residents.
Almog promised to give the rabbinic letter directly to Prime Minister Netanyahu upon his return to Israel and committed to getting T’ruah a response.
Almog and other government officials claim that population transfers will only involve moving people short distances, but Bedouin residents and allies say that the government has only offered highly concentrated options that undermine Bedouin traditional clan structure and agrarian way of life.
The rabbinic letter urges Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government to “treat Israel’s Bedouin population as equal citizens, involve community members in policy decisions that affect their future, and work together to develop zoning plans that meet their needs.”
At the meeting with the rabbinic delegation, Almog declined to provide assurances that the Israeli government would only demolish Bedouin villages if residents agreed to relocate. He said he believed that most of the affected population will consent to relocate. He stated that the government would “only use force as a last resort.”
Almog also refused to provide details about what types of weapons, ammunition, and anti-riot techniques the Yoav special police unit would be authorized to use during the demolition of Bedouin homes and dispersal of non-violent residents.
Established in April 2012, the Yoav special police unit has been training in riot response tactics. They will have approximately 360 officers by the time they are fully staffed, but the Yoav unit is already locating unauthorized structures in Bedouin communities, evacuating families, and assisting in home demolitions.
“It is precisely because of our deep commitment to the State of Israel and the prophetic values of liberty and justice on which it was founded, that we, as rabbis, are so distressed by the potential for the use of force to resettle Bedouin and destroy their villages,” said Rabbi Ayelet S. Cohen, Vice Chair of T’ruah. “The Prawer-Begin Plan and the legislation under consideration in the Knesset threaten to endanger Bedouin culture and directly undermine the foundational commitment of Israel to uphold the social and political equality of its citizens.”
To view the rabbinic letter to Netanyahu and the full list of signatories, visit:http://bit.ly/BedouinRabbis.
Related Material:
- 775 Rabbinic Leaders Urge Fair Treatment of Bedouin and Withdrawal of Legislation that Would Lead to Forced Relocation of 30,000-40,000 Citizens, November 6, 2013.
- Background: Special Police Unit Evacuates Bedouins; ‘It’s Not Easy,’ Officer Says, YNet News, October 25, 2013.
- Jewish Organizations Meet with White House National Security Council and State Department Officials on Israeli Government Plan, August 23, 2013.
- T’ruah, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association Urge Knesset to Reconsider Plan that Threatens to Dispossess Bedouin, June 27, 2013.
- Reform Movement Urges Netanyahu to Suspend Plan for Negev Bedouin, June 10, 2013.
- OHALAH Board Statement on Bedouin Settlement in the Negev, May 30, 2013.