[16] Between 1968 and 1989, Israel built seven townships in the northeast Negev for this population, including Rahat, Hura, Tel as-Sabi, Ar'arat an-Naqab, Lakiya, Kuseife and Shaqib al-Salam.

Later, the Umayyad dynasty began sponsoring building programs throughout the region, which was in close proximity to the dynastic capital in Damascus, and the Bedouin flourished.

Another measure initiated by the Ottoman authorities was the private acquisition of large plots of state land offered by the sultan to the absentee landowners (effendis).

By the 20th century much of the Bedouin population was settled, semi-nomadic, and engaged in agriculture according to an intricate system of land ownership, grazing rights, and water access.

Emanuel Marx has shown that Bedouin were engaged in a constantly dynamic reciprocal relation with urban centers[41] and Michael Meeker, a cultural anthropologist, states that "the city was to be found in their midst.

In March 1948, Bedouin and semi-Bedouin communities begun to leave their homes and encampments in response to Palmach retaliation raids following attacks on water-pipelines to Jewish cities.

[47] On 16 August 1948, the Negev Brigade launched a full-scale clearing operation in the Kaufakha-Al Muharraqa area displacing villagers and Bedouin for military reasons.

[53] When Beersheba was occupied by the Israeli army in 1948, 90% of the Bedouin population of the Negev were forced to leave, expectating to return to their lands after the war – mainly to Jordan and Sinai peninsula.

[15] IDF Chief Moshe Dayan was in favor of transfer the Bedouin to the center of the country in order to eliminate land claims and create a cadre of urban laborers.

So far they remain without water, electricity and garbage services, although there is a certain improvement: for example, in al-Sayyid two new schools were built and a medical clinic has been opened since its recognition in 2004.

[77] Due to the lack of municipal waste services and trash pickup, backyard burning has been adopted on a large scale, impacting badly on public health and the environment.

[78] Negev Bedouin claim the ownership of land totaling some 600,000 dunams (60,000 hectares or 230 square miles), or 12 times the size of Tel Aviv.

[81] This resolution provided for the establishment of seven Bedouin townships in the Negev,[82] and recognizing previously unrecognized villages, which would be granted municipal status and consequently all basic services and infrastructure.

Most residents will be absorbed into the Abu Basma Regional Council and the nature of future communities, whether agricultural, rural, suburban or urban will be decided in full cooperation with the local Bedouin.

[94] There are several examples of how the Prawer Plan has been implemented so far (As of June 2013[update]): after a number of complicated discreet agreements with the state all of the Bedouin of Tarabin clan moved into a township built for them with all the amenities - Tirabin al-Sana.

The Association of Civil Rights in Israel stated that "the government now has an opportunity to conduct real and honest dialogue with the Negev Bedouin community and its representatives".

The study focused on four core areas that were important to the development and advancement of the Bedouin population and that represented 77% of the total budget allocated for the resolution (employment, social infrastructures, personal security, and education, Following two interim reports,[96][97] a final evaluation was released in 2018.

[102] There are branches of several health funds (medical clinics) operating in the seven Bedouin townships: Leumit, Clalit, Maccabi and perinatal (baby care) centers Tipat Halav.

A few years ago the Association of Academics for the Development of Arab Society in the Negev (AHD) has established a new science high school at the Shoket Junction.

[119] Traditionally given over to shepherding their flocks and foraging for edible roots and herbs, while living a nomadic way of life, many Bedouins, since the mid–late 20th-century, have been forced to relocate and move into permanent settlements.

[120] Data collected by the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry in 2010 show that the employment rate among the Bedouin is 35 percent, the lowest of any sector in Israeli society.

In conjunction with this move the Green Patrol, a law compliance unit was established that disbanded 900 Bedouin encampments and cut goat herds by more than a third.

[130] Wadi al-Na'am is located close to the Ramat Hovav toxic waste dump, and its residents have suffered from higher than average incidences of respiratory illnesses and cancer.

[131] Given the small scale of the country, Bedouin and Jews of the region share some 2.5% of the desert with Israel's nuclear reactors, 22 agro and petrochemical factories, an oil terminal, closed military zones, quarries, a toxic waste incinerator (Ramat Hovav), cell towers, a power plant, several airports, a prison, and 2 rivers of open sewage.

[133] In 2003, Director of the Israeli Population Administration Department, Herzl Gedj,[134] described polygamy in the Bedouin sector a "security threat" and advocated various means of reducing the Arab birth rate.

[144] Bedouins of the Negev and Sinai have traditionally made use of the solidified resin extracted from the seeds of the ban tree (Moringa peregrina) to treat (rosin) the strings of the Arab violin (rebābah).

[146] Amos Yarkoni, first commander of the Shaked Reconnaissance Battalion in the Givati Brigade, was a Bedouin (born Abd el-Majid Hidr), although not from the Negev.

By any yardstick you choose—educational opportunity, economic development, women and gays' rights, freedom of speech and assembly, legislative representation—Israel's minorities fare far better than any other country in the Middle East.

Near the Sderot police station, militants opened fire on the vehicle, killing both Abu Sabila and Odia Swissa, as well as policemen who tried to assist them.

[164] A 2001 study suggested that regular meetings and cross border exchanges with relatives or friends in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Sinai are more common than expected, casting doubt on the accepted view of the relationship between the Bedouin and Palestinians.