Doron Almog to be Appointed as Head of the Staff to Implement the Plan to Provide Status for the Bedouin Communities in the Negev

 

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will, on Sunday, 4.12.11, submit for Cabinet approval the appointment of Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Doron Almog as the head of the staff to implement the plan to provide status for the Bedouin communities in the Negev.

 

Almog, a former GOC Southern Command, has, in recent years, been involved in advancing social projects and initiatives in the Negev and has a long familiarity with the Bedouin population. Since 2000, Almog has been involved with the Aleh Negev – Nahalat Eran rehabilitative village. As GOC Southern Command, Almog initiated educational projects to advance the education of Negev Bedouin IDF soldiers. He was involved in establishing a technical vocational training school at the IDF’s Natan Base and a Hebrew-language instruction school at the IDF Bedouin battalion base at Kerem Shalom, and advanced a project to promote higher education among discharged Bedouin soldiers.

 

The plan to provide status for the Bedouin communities in the Negev, which was approved by the Cabinet on 11.9.11, is based on four pillars: Providing status for the communities, an economic development plan for the Negev Bedouin population, resolving land ownership claims and a binding framework for implementation and enforcement.

 

The plan is part of the Government’s overall activities to develop the Negev for the benefit of its residents – Jewish and Bedouin alike. The plan will contribute to reducing gaps in Israeli society and to strengthening links between the center of the country and the periphery. The plan is in conjunction with national projects that the Government is advancing in the Negev, including – inter alia – moving IDF bases to the Negev, developing transportation infrastructures, initiating construction projects, promoting employment and investing in education.