Neve Midbar Regional Council

The council’s four recognized localities are Abu Qureinat, Abu Tulul, Bir Hadaj, and Qasr al-Sir, also rendered as Abu Krinat, Abu Tlul, and Kasar A-Sir in official English-language documentation.[2][3] Together with the seven localities of neighboring Al-Kasum Regional Council, they formed the eleven recognized localities administered by the two successors to Abu Basma.[2]

The council’s communities are geographically discontinuous: Abu Qureinat and Abu Tulul are approximately 50 kilometers from Bir Hadaj, with Wadi Na’am between them.[3] Bir Hadaj lies about two kilometers west of Mashabei Sadeh, while the council’s other communities extend across the area east of Be’er Sheva.[3] From 2013, the council’s area grew from approximately 4 to 32.7 square kilometers; about 87 percent of that area is described as undeveloped, mostly agricultural land.[3]

The council also provides education, welfare, and health services to residents of unrecognized communities within its area, including Wadi Na’am.[3] Additional settlements, including Hashm Zana, are described as undergoing regularization.[3] This service role extends beyond the population covered by the official statistics for its recognized localities.[3]

Neve Midbar emerged from the division of Abu Basma Regional Council in November 2012, under a decision by the interior minister based on recommendations of the Razin Committee.[2] The committee’s mandate concerned municipal boundaries and local planning areas for the Bedouin population in the Be’er-Sheva region.[2] The reorganization was intended to improve municipal services in the recognized Bedouin localities formerly administered by Abu Basma.[2]

The two successor councils initially had administrations appointed by the interior minister, with the stated aim of holding democratic elections within a few years.[4] The establishment of the eleven localities was intended to accommodate Bedouin needs, including settlement patterns organized around tribal communities and an agricultural lifestyle.[4] By the time of Israel’s 2017 periodic report on racial discrimination, all eleven localities had approved outline plans.[2]

In 2016, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri announced that elections for Neve Midbar and Al-Kasum would be held on November 29.[5] An election previously planned for Abu Basma in December 2012 had been postponed following its division.[5] The 2016 announcement established a scheduled election date, rather than confirming that voting had taken place.[5]

The official population of Neve Midbar was 12,700 at the end of 2020, compared with 12,300 in 2019, across four localities.[6] These regional-council estimates excluded Bedouin residents living outside localities.[6] Separate official figures list 13,309 residents, while another figure in the 2024 council material is 13,900; the 2023 EfshariBari participant list also uses 13,309.[3][7] The figures are not directly interchangeable.

The council’s recognized localities have notably young populations: 2022 census indicators give median ages of 15 in Abu Qureinat, 18 in Abu Tulul, 13 in Bir Hadaj, and 17 in Qasr al-Sir.[3] The corresponding dependency ratios per 1,000 people were 1,526.7, 1,401.9, 2,074.9, and 1,344.6, respectively.[3] These census indicators describe the official population, not residents of unrecognized communities who depend on services in council localities.[3]

Approximately half the population in the council area is estimated to live in unrecognized communities, and Wadi Na’am alone is estimated at about 10,000 residents.[3] Those estimates describe a broader population than the separately listed official council total and should not be treated as interchangeable counts.[3] Administrative datasets differed substantially: Population Authority data from February 2020 listed 8,287 residents, whereas an income-distribution committee associated with Ramat Hovav Local Industrial Council used a figure of 26,500.[8]

Combined figures for Neve Midbar and Al-Kasum also vary by date and definition: a 2016 estimate placed about 30,000 people in their eleven recognized villages, while a 2021 account placed approximately 20,000 people in the Negev’s two regional councils.[9][10] Neither figure provides a separate population count for Neve Midbar.[9][10]

In the wider Negev, the Bedouin population was estimated at more than 206,000 in a 2013 report, more than 240,000 in a 2017 report, and nearly 280,000 as of January 2021.[4][2][10] The January 2021 estimate indicated that 51 percent were younger than 18; these are regional figures, not council-specific statistics.[10]

Neve Midbar ranked lowest among Israel’s 255 local authorities in the 2017 socioeconomic index.[1] The index considered demographic composition, education, standard of living, employment, and retirement.[1] Earlier figures for the 2015 index placed its 7,325 residents in socioeconomic cluster 1, the lowest cluster, with an index value of −2.797; its cluster classification was unchanged from 2013.[11]

The predecessor Abu Basma council relied heavily on central-government funding: government assistance accounted for 98.2 percent of its 2011 budget, with annual support close to NIS 180 million.[12] Following the split, a survey identified 51 businesses in Neve Midbar, but assessment notices had been sent to only three.[12] Limited funds and difficulties identifying properties and their holders hindered property-tax administration.[12]

A 2020 comparison of education expenditure put Neve Midbar’s net local contribution at minus NIS 20 per student—NIS 20 less than the funding it received from the Education Ministry.[13] The ministry allocation was NIS 47,200 per student, and, without additional local investment, total public expenditure per student was less than half the amount in neighboring Tamar Regional Council.[13] The calculation may partly have reflected the presence of pupils coming from outside the council.[13]

In a 2021 opinion column on regional revenue distribution, Yogev Sharvit argued that registered-population totals understated the councils’ service responsibilities: he gave a combined registered population of 25,000 for Neve Midbar and Al-Kasum, compared with more than 70,000 people receiving services.[14] Citing an internal Interior Ministry report, he put Neve Midbar’s service population at 42,000; these figures formed part of his argument about disputed funding allocations, rather than a conventional census count.[14]

As of 2020, 91 percent of public infrastructure was lacking in localities of Neve Midbar and Al-Kasum, including water, electricity, sewage, roads, and communications.[8] Incomplete information about who physically lived in each locality also weakened the basis for budgeting and infrastructure planning, affecting education, welfare, health, transport, and communications services.[8]

Residents of unrecognized communities in the council area receive education, welfare, and health services from the council, but live in temporary structures and tents without formal electricity and water connections or regulated access roads.[3] A broader 2016 assessment estimated that approximately 60,000 Negev Bedouins lived in 35 unrecognized villages without water, electricity, or educational, health, and welfare services; that estimate was not specific to Neve Midbar.[9]

An educational center under Neve Midbar’s responsibility, located 2.5 kilometers from the Neot Hovav site, accommodated about 3,000 pupils in two elementary schools and 13 kindergartens.[8] As of July 2020, those pupils had not been transferred to another school as required by the environmental protection minister.[8]

Inspections on August 9–10, 2026, covered eleven schools in unrecognized Bedouin villages under the combined responsibility of Neve Midbar and Al-Kasum, serving about 7,200 students.[15] The reported findings included serious toilet defects at ten schools, damaged walls or ceilings at eight, and immediate electrical or fire hazards at six; these totals were not broken down by council.[15] The Education Ministry’s response was that the institutions had active approvals for the 2026–27 school year and that the specific findings would be reviewed.[15]

Abu Tulul, approximately 13 kilometers southeast of Be’er Sheva, was recognized in the district master plan in 2007 as a permanent locality for the Bedouin population.[16] In 2024, its population was reported at about 3,000 and its socioeconomic classification was cluster 1 out of 10.[16]

In October 2024, the Southern District Planning and Building Committee approved for deposit a proposal for the Al-Bawadi residential quarter in Abu Tulul.[16] The proposal covered roughly 1,300 dunams and included 1,400 housing units, 170,000 square meters of commercial and employment space, and a park.[16] The planned quarter was intended for 16,000 people; the approval concerned a development proposal, not a completed neighborhood.[16]

Recognition, planning status, service provision, and democratic representation have been recurring points of disagreement: the postponement of the planned 2012 election was supported by residents of smaller villages but opposed by members of unrecognized villages and nongovernmental organizations seeking elections.[5] In property-tax proceedings, the councils also pointed to missing basic infrastructure and minimal services in many communities as constraints on municipal administration.[12]

Accounts of service provision differ in scope and emphasis: the 2017 government report described improvements after the councils’ reorganization, while the subsequent governance audit documented extensive infrastructure deficiencies.[2][8] The distinction between registered residents and the larger population receiving services remains consequential for funding and infrastructure planning.[8]