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Honorable Head of the Abu Basma Regional Council,
Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office, Raanan Dinur,
Head of the Bedouin Authority, my dear friend, Yehuda Bachar,
Madam District Head of the Ministry of Education, Ms. Amira Haim,
Jaber Abu Kaf, Chairman of the Abu Krinat Committee,
Honorable Sheikhs,
Heads of Local Authorities,
Dear Friends,
Distinguished Guests,
I am very pleased to be here. It is not my first time here, and it is not my first time meeting with Sheikhs and Bedouin Heads of Local Authorities. What is important to me today is that soon, G-d willing, we will reach an agreement and an understanding on a matter which is perhaps the most central and important of matters in the relations between the State of Israel and its Bedouin citizens, and that is the matter of land.
I have handled this matter for many years, and have reached the conclusion that the path we walked in the past was not the right path, and therefore I have decided to establish the Goldberg Committee. There are Bedouin members of the Goldberg Committee because we did not want this Committee to be cut off from the Bedouins, but rather to be among and from within the Bedouins so that they would cooperate with it with respect, justness and integrity, as we believe should be the norm with all citizens of the State of Israel. Now I hear, and I am very pleased to hear from Abu Krinat and Mujabber that they are asking the Government to adopt the Goldberg Committee’s conclusions, you should ask for one more thing – that you all, all Bedouins – and I do not know what the conclusions are; I do not know how to estimate them; I do not know what to think about them; I do not know how to budget for them right now; I do not know anything – but if you want the Government to adopt the conclusions, you too must adopt them. Once and for all so that a situation in which there is a gap will not be created. Once and for all so that we can reach agreement. No one can get all that he wants. I conducted a very difficult war against ministers who said, “Why are you establishing a committee? It will open the door; who knows how far it will go, how much it will cost.” I replied that I would prefer that it cost more and that we will live in peace with the Bedouins rather than it costing less and there be anger between us and the Bedouins.
I am a great believer that this population is an inseparable part of the State of Israel. You are citizens of which a great many of you are at the forefront of the fighters and protectors of the State of Israel. I think that over the past several years, we have done a great many things which were not done for many years. What Amram Kalagi is doing as head of the Abu Basma Regional Council is very important; I am proud to have inaugurated the school in Tarabin, and I felt great pride when standing on this hill and seeing how the cornerstones for these schools were laid. Children do not earn five points in mathematics with such a high score if they have to sit in an unpleasant place. This school is of the highest level of schools which are being built in the State of Israel. In the coming years, by 2011, we will build 8,000 classrooms, of which 40% will be for the non-Jewish population. 40% of the classrooms we are building will be for the non-Jewish population. No other government in history made such a decision. You are not 40% of the population, but you are 40% of the shortage in classrooms. Therefore, when we build classrooms, we build them according to rightness and not according to size; according to scarcity and not according to what already exists. We are going to invest in developing infrastructure on an unprecedented scope. I think that what Amram is doing in Abu Basma is another path, another style, a different quality, a different level.
Now, I reiterate – we must live together. We must live together in mutual respect, in justice and in equality, and this means that you must accept the recommendations of the Committee of which you were members. If you want me to accept the recommendations, you must accept them as well. I appeal to you and ask you this with a genuine attitude, without any pretense, out of faith that we can live in equality. I will not be in this position when it is time to implement the conclusions as this is a process which will take several years and which will cost a great deal of money. However, you will be here and I will follow up from afar, with great love, to ensure that everything happens as it should, that the Bedouins will be able to live in the Negev with dignity, with a high quality of life, in good houses.
One must only look how Rahat has developed over the past several years. It developed, inter alia, as a result of decisions I made – for example, a scope of construction of 2,200 new housing units, tremendous numbers. This is how I would like all communities to appear and I would like the land problem to reach an agreement within a defined period of time so that we can lead the development of the Negev to achievements we believe this area can attain.
I take this opportunity to thank you, Yehuda Bachar, my dear friend, for the important work you have been doing during these years. I am responsible for the fact that you are here, and I am very proud of that. I also want to greet all the heads of the Jewish local authorities who are here today, and of course thank them for the good work they are doing.
However, primarily, I would like to convey my holiday greetings, for Id el-Adha, and to wish you a pleasant, happy, good, quiet and hope-filled holiday.
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