Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel plans to restore “law and order” to the Negev.
“The Negev is running wild. We will rein it in,” said the premier during a tour of the region together with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, according to a statement from his office.
“We are coming to return the Negev to the State of Israel. This means settlement on a scale we haven’t known, and it also means providing for the Bedouin residents. But it means, first and foremost—restoring law and order,” he continued.
His remarks come on the backdrop of an ongoing police operation in the Negev to crack down on criminal activity in the south, which has the potential to evolve into a national security threat.
“We must understand that the criminal threat and the security threat have merged into one, with tens of thousands of weapons, with drones crossing borders, and other threats,” said Netanyahu.
“Therefore, we will bring a national project to achieve all these goals, but primarily to restore governance to the Negev,” he added.
Netanyahu, Katz and Ben-Gvir’s first stop on the tour was Kibbutz Revivim, located about half an hour south of Beersheva, where they observed the Bedouin town of Bir Hadaj and were briefed by Israel Police Inspector-General Kobi Shabtai, Israel Security Agency Director Ronen Bar and IDF Deputy Chief-of-Staff Maj.-Gen. Amir Baram on police enforcement against the smuggling and possession of illegal weapons in the south, the significant seizures of weapons and counter-smuggling operations carried out by police forces in the area and along the borders, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
The tour focused on a large-scale national plan, which includes: strengthening the state’s hold on the land; advancing plans to expand settlements and increase demographic growth; developing new employment zones; improving civilian infrastructure and addressing residents’ security needs, according to the statement.
In late December, the Israel Police launched an open-ended, large-scale operation in the Bedouin town of Tarabin in the Negev, arresting 16 suspects on weapons charges and seizing military-grade firearms allegedly stolen from Israel Defense Forces bases.
Hundreds of officers and the Border Police’s National Guard troops have cordoned off the community and set up a temporary command center as part of what a senior police official described to Channel 12 News as a deep crackdown on illegal weapons and lawlessness, saying the operation will continue “until the mission is complete.”
The raid followed a series of incidents in nearby Jewish communities, including stone-throwing and arson attacks around Giv’ot Bar, that residents say left them feeling unprotected and forced many to go about armed.
The Regavim movement, an NGO dedicated to the protection of Israel’s national lands, called on Jerusalem in November to use counter-terrorism means to combat Bedouin drone operations in the country’s south.
The NGO posited that the smuggling of weapons constituted “an unprecedented strategic threat to Israel’s long-term stability” during a meeting on the issue at the Knesset’s Special Committee for Eastern Border Settlements.
