The hotly debated "Prawer Bill," regulating Beduin settlements in the Negev, narrowly passed in its first Knesset reading Monday.
The discussion of the bill was marked with loud arguments and demonstrations by Arab MKs, who began the debate by walking out when Welfare Minister Meir Cohen presented the legislation.
"This is not a bill, it's a strangling," MK Jamal Zahalke (Balad) said as he left the plenum.
Soon after, while MK Muhammad Barakei (Hadash) argued against the bill, Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat shouted out that he is "obnoxious," and Barakei told her to shut her mouth. Then, Barakei tore up a copy of the legislation, leading Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to say he will file a complaint against him to the Knesset Ethics Committee.
MK Ahmed Tibi (UAL-Ta'al) also destroyed a copy of the bill, this time by pouring water on it.
"This is a Mark of Cain on the forehead of anyone who supports the bill," Tibi stated. "This is a usurping bill! It expels people from their lands and homes for the second and third time after the tragedy of 1948 [Israel's establishment]."
MK Zehava Gal-On (Meretz) took a more diplomatic approach, saying that she is sure former Likud minister Bennie Begin meant well in drafting the plan on which the bill is based, but it is not good enough and does not recognize the Beduin's historical rights.
"You need to praise this law, and [the coalition] should oppose it, because it gives the Beduin what the courts wouldn't," MK Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi) said. "When their demands for land were brought to the court, they were thrown out and weren't given rights to the land."
Calling the Beduin "squatters," Shaked said that a sovereign state cannot allow illegal settlements built by Jews or Arabs, and when illegal towns are built they must be evacuated.
Still, Shaked added, she is skeptical that the law will be effective and that the government will assert its sovereignty.
Coalition chairman Yariv Levin (Likud Beytenu) said the Arab MKs' "wild behavior" in the discussion "proves they don't have a place here," and Likud Beytenu MK Reuven Rivlin called on them to stop denying Israeli democracy.
MK Meir Sheetrit (Hatnua), who led negotiations with the Beduin on land issues during Ehud Olmert's premiership, expressed careful optimism about the bill.
"For the first time, this law creates an opening for an agreement. It's unfortunate that people are so angry; the goal here is to regulate [the land] and find the best solution," Sheetrit said.
The bill passed its first reading with 43 in favor and 40 opposed.
Earlier Monday, the coalition almost stopped the vote from taking place, when the Bayit Yehudi discovered that the draft submitted to the Knesset differed from the one agreed upon by the party and the Prime Minister's Office.
After several hours of negotiations, the PMO and Begin agreed to reinstate a clause limiting the timetable in which Beduin can lay claim on land.
The Prawer-Begin plan has drawn opposition from both the Right, which argued that it would give away too much and not solve the problem, and the Left, which claims that it is not generous enough.
The current Prawer-Begin plan calls for legalizing around 63% of Beduin land claims.
Due to its controversiality on the Right, no Likud minister or deputy minister was willing to present the bill in the Knesset. Instead, Cohen opted to do so, explaining that as former mayor of Dimona, he understood its importance.
The legislation follows a plan by former Likud minister Benny Begin proposed for regulating the land of the Bedouin in 2012 based on a previous plan drawn up by a team headed by Ehud Prawer in 2011, known as the Prawer plan. The Prawer plan in turn was based on recommendations of a committee chaired by former Supreme Court Justice Eliezer Goldberg.
Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) came to an agreement last month with Benny Begin, who has been responsible for putting together and promoting his plan for resolving the Beduin issue.
The first main demand that was met in the redrafted proposal, was an agreement to first draw up a specific map that includes exact details of the plan, which delineates the areas that would be given to Beduin and those reserved for the state or Jewish settlement. Second, a ministerial committee headed by the Prime Minister will be established to monitor the implementation of the plan. Third, the timetable of the plan would be shortened from five years to three. And fourth, a Jewish settlement would be established on the outskirts of Arad in the Negev.
NGOs supporting the Beduin land claims argue that the government should agree to a solution with the Beduin and recognize their settlements in order to insure their rights, and oppose any expulsion or forced relocation.
Maj.-Gen. (res.) Doron Almog, the director of the headquarters for the economic and community development of the Negev Beduin in the Prime Minister’s Office told the Post last week that a legal solution is required to solve the Beduin issue.