The Tribal Challenge

Drawing on a wealth of ethnographic and historical sources, Havatzelet Yahel offers an engaging and sometimes surprising history of Israel's policy toward Bedouin tribalism in the Negev desert in southern Israel. The study opens with a detailed look at the 1940s and 1950s in the region, which shaped the relationship between Israel and the Bedouin, most notably Israel's effort to accommodate tribalism in collaboration with the sheikhs. The story then shifts to the next stage in Israel's policymaking under the Military Administration in the 1960s and early 1970s. Although various forces were at work to break down tribal life, especially the hardship of prolonged droughts, nevertheless the pro-tribal policy won out in the end. Today, Israel's policy toward the Bedouin focuses more on traditional tribal norms, rather than promoting democratic individuals values.