Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality
פורום דו-קיום בנגב לשוויון אזרחי
منتدى التعايش السلمي في النقب من أجل المساواة المدنية

The Prawer Plan is Now the Shamir Plan

10.01.2014

Following former minister Benny Begin’s dramatic announcement that the Prawer Plan was to be shelved, there has been some uncertainty regarding its future. Despite Begin saying that he was acting in coordination with the Prime Minister, other figures such as Maj-General (res) Doron Almog, responsible for implementing the plan and MK Miri Regev (Likud) chairperson of the Internal Affairs Committee that was discussing the proposed law, claimed that it was ‘business as usual’ for the Plan.

This week (07/01/14) it was announced that the issue of ‘regulating’ Bedouin settlement in the Negev has been handed over to Minister of Agriculture Yair Shamir (Israel is our Home) to rework the Plan and implement it via his Ministry.  Shamir, son of hard line prime minister Itzhak Shamir (1983-4 and 1986-92), is a former colonel in the air-force and was a business man before becoming a politician in 2013.  On a visit to the Negev on Tuesday, January 7, Shamir declared that he is formulating a new program, one that will focus on economic development rather with land issues and will ensure that ‘every Bedouin child has a plot of land and a future.’ He spoke of the necessity to ‘renew the Negev’ – a euphemism for judaization. Shamir said quite bluntly that although his first objective would be to gain the Bedouin’s trust and negotiate with them, if no agreement was reached, the government would implement a future plan “by force.”[1]