Revoke the "Shikli Framework" for Land Ownership Claims in Negev Bedouin Communities
- ACRI
- Jul 24
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 29
On July 24, 2025, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, together with the Regional Council for Unrecognized Villages, the Supreme Steering Committee for Negev Arabs, Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights, Itach Ma'aki – Women Lawyers for Social Justice, and Keshet Association - Community | Culture | Environment, petitioned the Supreme Court to demand the revocation of a new government framework for regulating Bedouin villages in the Negev. Government Decision No. 3101, which was approved on June 5, 2025, was formulated by the Authority for the Development and Settlement of Bedouins in the Negev, under the auspices of the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs led by MK Amichai Chikli, and was approved by the Ministerial Committee on Bedouin Society Affairs.
The petition argues that this framework, which is intended to apply initially to five Bedouin settlements, was approved without public participation and without consultation with the heads of local authorities and the Bedouin community. The ministerial committee that approved the framework operated in secrecy: no agenda was published, no documentation was disclosed; and neither residents, local authorities, or civil society organizations were granted the opportunity to express their position. The decision was made hastily, published only a week after its approval, and denied the public a real opportunity to help shape it.
The petition asserts that the proposed framework creates a system that forces residents to waive their historical land rights in exchange for partial compensation, or the land will be expropriated by the state. It violates the rights of Bedouin residents to property, culture, and identity, and the right of access to legal resources, and it exacerbates the discrimination and exclusion faced by Bedouins. The framework resembles the Prawer Plan, which sought the relocation of tens of thousands of Negev Bedouins and was revoked following widespread public opposition, and does not include genuine recognition of the traditional rights of Bedouins to their historic lands.
HCJ 64840-07-25 Regional Council for Unrecognized Villages v. Ministerial Committee for Settlement Regulation and Economic Development of Bedouin Society in the Negev
Attorney: Abeer Joubran
The petition, July 24, 2025 (Heb)
The petition was written with the assistance of interns Elsa Bonia and Inbar Quiroga
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