The "Compensation Framework" is Really the "Compulsion Framework" for Bedouins

Illustrative. Photo:  © Rumata7 | Dreamstime.com

ACRI, Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights, and the Arab Center for Alternative Planning, sent an urgent appeal on April 13, 2026 to the Minister of Construction and Housing, Haim Katz, Chair of the Israel Land Council, demanding that the Council remove the new “Compensation Framework” for the settlement of ownership claims in the Negev from the agenda, which is expected to be put to a vote on April 15. 

The proposed framework is intended to compel Bedouin citizens to relinquish their historical ownership claims to their land. As part of a pilot in five Bedouin localities, Kuseife, Mar’it, Sa’wa, Abu Tlul, and Lakiya, claimants would be given only six months to reach a compromise agreement for compensation for their lands with the State. Thereafter, the proposed compensation would be reduced by 25% each month, until it is completely eliminated within ten months. After the ten months, the State could expropriate the lands and file claims against the claimants. 

This proposal is designed to apply inappropriate economic and legal pressure on landowners, turning what is meant to be a voluntary process into a coerced arrangement under the threat of state expropriation. Moreover, the proposed compensation itself does not constitute fair compensation: financial compensation amounts to at most NIS 25,000 per dunam (about a quarter of an acre) before reductions. The amounts would decrease as the claimed area increases. Additionally, instead of offering alternate lands for ownership, the State in many cases offers leasehold land, effectively turning the claimant into a lessee of land they claimed. 

The organizations emphasize in their appeal that this is a unique system applied only to Bedouins in the Negev and does not exist with respect to any other population group in Israel. They point to significant disparities compared to the State’s policy in other cases of historical ownership claims (for example, in East Jerusalem), in which the State recognizes longstanding Jewish claims without time limitations, without sanctions, and without threats of expropriation. The organizations also assert that this proposal was composed extremely quickly, without allowing for the participation of the heads of Bedouin local authorities, landowners, or Bedouin public representatives, contrary to the State’s previous commitments before the Supreme Court. 

The organizations are calling on the Israel Land Council to withdraw the framework from its agenda and to open a true consultation process in collaboration with the leadership of Bedouin society and with landowners, in order to formulate an equitable and respectful solution to the land issue in the Negev. 

The organizations’ appeal, April 13, 2026 (Heb) 

ACRI's request to postpone the discussion on the framework, March 23, 2026 (Heb)