Adalah Defends the Residents of the Bedouin Village of Umm Badoun in the Naqab (Negev) against Forced Eviction as Israeli Authorities Push Forward with Plan to Uproot the Village
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel submitted defense arguments to the Be’er Sheva Magistrates’ Court on behalf of the residents of Umm Badoun, an unrecognized Bedouin village in the Naqab (Negev), against eviction efforts by the Israeli Land Authority (ILA). Since February 2024, the ILA has initiated 29 lawsuits to evict the entire village- hundreds of residents. Adalah filed defense arguments in these 29 cases in September and October 2024.
The residents of Umm Badoun, Bedouin citizens of Israel, were originally forced to leave their lands around the area of Kurnub, near what is now the Israeli city of Dimona, by Israel’s military government in the 1950s. Today, they face a renewed threat of losing their homes, as the ILA pushes for their forced eviction once again. Adalah is also representing the residents of the nearby unrecognized village of Al-Bqea’ah, which is also facing an imminent threat of evacuation by the ILA. Like Umm Badoun, Al-Bqea’ah residents are from Al- Janabeeb tribe and were also displaced from the Kurnub area in the 1950s.
The residents of Umm Badoun faces the threat of forced relocation to a planned neighborhood 35 kilometers away, a move that would have devastating consequences for them. The entire village would be uprooted, shattering the social and economic fabric of the community. The villagers make their living primarily through agriculture and tourism, benefiting from their proximity to the Dead Sea, Masada, and the Kfar Nokdim tourist sites. Relocating them—especially to an area unsuitable for their way of life and needs—would severely impact their livelihood and economic stability. The community relies on essential services in the nearby Israeli city of Arad, including healthcare, education, and employment, and views itself as part of Arad’s broader community, wishing to preserve this connection. Moreover, the proposed relocation site remains undeveloped, offering no immediate housing alternatives for the families. Forced evacuation would put the residents, especially vulnerable groups like women and children, at serious risk, exposing them to significant hardships and potential dangers.
In the defense arguments, Adalah contended on behalf of the residents that the ILA falsely portrays them as trespassers with no connection to the land, claiming they are illegal trespassers. These allegations are false and entirely baseless as the residents have lived on this land for decades, where they built their homes, established their families, and raised their children. Over the years, they created a strong social and economic community, fostering a cohesive and supportive environment. Additionally, the villagers send their children to school in the nearby village of Al-Fura’a, using buses funded by and coordinated with the Education Ministry. The community also regularly receives water services from Mekorot, Israel's national water company, further underscoring their established presence and connection to the land. These arrangements clearly demonstrate that the residents hold and use the land with the state’s permission and prior knowledge, making all claims of trespassing or illegal possession unfounded.
To streamline the legal process and bolster the defense, on 13 October 2024, Adalah submitted a motion to the Be’er Sheva Magistrates’ Court to unify the cases. The court ruled to consolidate all the 29 cases related to Umm Badoun under a single judge, effectively unifying the proceedings. The first pre-hearing is scheduled for 4 November 2025.
The ILA’s attempts to forcibly displace the residents to a site incompatible with their way of life, reflect a broader state-driven policy of discrimination. This policy is aimed at removing Bedouin communities from their lands through the systematic destruction of the unrecognized villages. It completely disregards the residents' rights, interests and needs and fails to consider the profound disruption that forced relocation would cause to their way of life, offering no factual or legitimate justification for such drastic measures. By concentrating Bedouin communities in impoverished townships, this policy is part of larger efforts to seize Bedouin lands, "Judaize" the area, and enforce racial segregation and apartheid practices against Bedouin communities in the Naqab.
The state's ongoing policies of forced displacement have resulted in the demolition and uprooting of numerous unrecognized Bedouin villages over the past decades, with residents forcibly removed from their homes despite having lived there for generations since being displaced in the 1950s. Additionally, the 2022 coalition agreements of the far-right Israeli government underscore the intention to Judaize the Naqab and advance such plans. These plans include pushing for the establishment of Jewish-only settlements, restructuring regional planning committees to prioritize Jewish settlements, and enforcing demolitions, as echoed in the repeated statements by extremist Minister Ben Gvir, who has framed house demolitions as a tool to assert governance and control in the Naqab.
Adalah commented:
“The eviction threat facing Umm Badoun is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of racial and spatial segregation targeting Bedouin citizens of Israel living in unrecognized villages. This ongoing campaign of forced displacement across the Naqab seeks to uproot these communities, falsely portraying residents as trespassers. These policies are designed to systematically remove Bedouin citizens from their homes and to concentrate them in poor, overcrowded government-planned towns. The eviction of Umm Badoun residents violates not only their right to housing but also their right to live in dignity. The struggle of these communities is deeply rooted in their fight for fundamental rights—to remain on their lands, live with dignity, and preserve their way of life.”
CLICK here to view a map of Bedouin villages under threat of demolition (Adalah and Bimkom)
