Blueprint Negev
Encyclopedia
Jewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...
(JNF) project to develop the Negev
Negev
The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
region of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
The project aims to increase the Negev
Negev
The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
's population by 250,000 new residents, improving transportation infrastructure, adding businesses and employment opportunities, preserving water resources and protecting its environment. The project aims to reduce the strain on Israel's coastal strip, which is suffering from overdevelopment and overpopulation. 92% of Israel's population resides on 40% of Israel's land, while only 8% of its population lives in the Negev, which represents 60% of Israel's landmass.
History
The last large-scale development project to accommodate and promote new Jewish immigration was during the 1980s, when "Operation Promised Land" was launched to meet the challenge of the massive upsurge of Jewish immigration from the Soviet Union and Ethiopia.In May 2006, Peres said that his first task as Minister of Development of the Negev and Galilee would be to promote the construction of a new Jewish community in the Negev, Karmit, the first to be built under the Blueprint Negev plan after Be'er Milka
Be'er Milka
Be'er Milka is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the central Negev desert close to the Egyptian border, around three kilometres from Kmehin, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ramat HaNegev Regional Council....
. Ynet
Ynet
Ynet is the most popular Israeli news and general content website. It is owned by the same conglomerate that operates Yediot Ahronot, the country's secondleading daily newspaper...
reported that the community was "designated for wealthy, young American immigrants who want to make aliyah
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
and live in style." Former JNF President, Ronald Lauder
Ronald Lauder
Ronald Steven Lauder is a Jewish-American businessman, civic leader, philanthropist, and art collector. Forbes lists Lauder among the richest people of the world with an estimated net worth of $3.0 billion in 2007.-Life and career:...
said that Blueprint Negev answers the need for Jews looking to make aliyah the pioneering way.
Population redistribution
The plan aims to bring 250,000 new residents to the Negev over ten years. Toward that goal, the project has sought to direct Anglo (EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
-speaking) immigration to the Negev and has compiled a database (currently containing some 10,000 names) of current Israeli citizens interested in relocating to the Negev. After the Disengagement
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut", was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from...
, the JNF was instrumental in helping Gaza evacuees find new homes in the Negev as cohesive units.
Beersheba redevelopment
The plan aims to increase the population of BeershebaBeersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
, the Negev's largest city. One of the main projects undertaken there is the Be’er Sheva River Walk, creating a 900 acres (3.6 km²) park inspired by San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
’s River Walk
San Antonio River Walk
The San Antonio River Walk is a network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River, one story beneath downtown San Antonio, Texas...
. The plan includes green spaces, an amphitheater for events, a lake for boating and promenades for strolling. The JNF supported cleanup of the riverbed.
New suburban communities
The plan envisions the creation of 25 new suburban communities. Seven communities that have already been established are SansanaSansana
Sansana is a religious communal settlement in the southern Hebron Hills of the West Bank. Located to the south-west of Hebron and just over the Green Line, it falls under the jurisdiction of Har Hebron Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 244...
(1999) 54 families, Tzukim
Tzukim
Tzukim , also Zuqim, is a communal settlement in southern Israel. Located in the Arava, 8km south of Tzofar, it falls under jurisdiction of the Central Arava Regional Council. Tzukim was founded in 2001 on land vacated by the Bildad army camp. Bildad also served as a transit point for new...
(2001) 72 families, Merchav Am (2002) 34 families, Giv’ot Bar
Gva'ot Bar
Giv'ot Bar is a communal settlement in the northern Negev desert of southern Israel. Located to the south of Rahat, it falls under the jurisdiction of Bnei Shimon Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 93.The village was established in 2004...
/Shomria
Shomria
Shomria is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located near Lehavim, it falls under the jurisdiction of Bnei Shimon Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 376....
(2004) 30 families, Haruv
Haruv
Haruv , also Kerem Ami is a communal settlement in Hevel Lakhish in south-central Israel. It belongs to the Lakhish Regional Council.It was founded in 2004. It is named after the eponymous carob tree which grow in the region of the community. Secular, traditional and religious Jews live there and...
(2005) 30 families, Be'er Milka
Be'er Milka
Be'er Milka is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the central Negev desert close to the Egyptian border, around three kilometres from Kmehin, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ramat HaNegev Regional Council....
/Kmehin
Kmehin
Kmehin |Truffles]]) is a secular moshav in the western Negev desert in Israel.Located near Nitzana, it is named for the truffles that grow in the area. The moshav was founded in 1988 and is part of Ramat HaNegev Regional Council. It is home to around 30 families.The moshav's main produce is cherry...
(2006) 12 families, Karmit, and Kasif. Sansana is part of the Har Hebron Regional Council
Har Hebron Regional Council
The Har Hevron Regional Council is an Israeli regional council in the southern Judean Hills area of Mount Hebron, in the southern West Bank. The headquarters are located adjacent to Otniel. The council was established in 1983...
governing Hebron-area settlements.
Environmental and social criticism
Israeli and American environmental groups are concerned that the creation of isolated suburban communities in the Negev will lead to water and energy intensive suburban sprawl and strain Bedouin-Jewish relations. They argue that the planned developments will require a large public investment per capita that benefits a small number of comparatively well-off immigrants in a region with high poverty rates.The environmental justice organization BustanBustan (organization)
Bustan is a joint Israeli-Palestinian non-profit organization of eco-builders, architects, academics, and farmers who promote environmental and social justice in Israel/Palestine...
is concerned that the Blueprint Negev's green gestures may be cosmetic at best, or mere rhetoric ( "greenwashing"). Bustan and religious Jewish organizations concerned with Jewish justice principles such as Neohasid are concerned that if implemented, the plan’s rapid development will overbuild the country's last open spaces and eliminating the last vestiges of the Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
way of life. Bustan argues that the Blueprint Negev is an attempt by a wing of the American Jewish community to combat what they perceive as a "demographic threat" to Israel's Jewish majority, represented by the fast-growing Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
population. Daniel Orenstein claims the project is not the answer to overdevelopment in the north. Blueprint Negev is accused of discriminating against Bedouins and endangering their way of life.