"Sick Media Clown": Bedouins Attack Ben Gvir
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir arrived today for plantings in the Negev near Highway 6, in the Wadi Anim area subject to ownership claims. The Council for Unrecognized Villages in the Negev sharply attacked the move, calling it a "election campaign provocation" and accusing Ben Gvir of failure in every field. Ben Gvir responded by promising to return the Negev to state control.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir arrived today (Tuesday) for plantings in the Negev, near Highway 6, in the Wadi Anim area, which is subject to ownership claims. The plantings, carried out by KKL and the Israel Land Authority, were intended, according to a source in the National Security Ministry, to protect the land from encroachments and illegal construction, and to safeguard the national infrastructure for extending Highway 6 southward. The Council for Unrecognized Villages in the Negev issued a harsh response: "Were it not for the provocation of village residents and the waste of public funds, we would laugh. The entire planting campaign is pathetically ridiculous and has been failing for years. The 150,000 residents of the villages will not disappear because of a few dunams of grove." It further stated that "Minister Ben Gvir is under campaign pressure, having just dropped to seven seats in polls, because even coalition supporters know he is a colossal failure in every field." Council head Atia Al-A'sam said this is an "election campaign provocation" aimed at "stirring conflict between Arabs and Jews who live together." Ben Gvir responded: "The Council of Illegal Villages in the Negev will become irrelevant - because at the current rate of demolishing illegal homes, this gang of criminals will have nothing to live on." He accused the "Muslim Brotherhood government of Bennett and Abbas" of halting plantings and demolitions, and promised: "We are returning the Negev to state control." The dispute over the plantings reflects the tension between the state and the unrecognized villages in the Negev, and the struggle over land and governance in the region.