T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights applauds Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s withdrawal of the Prawer-Begin Plan which would have led to the forced relocation of 30,000-40,000 Bedouin Israelis and demolition of their villages.
This announcement came just a few days after T’ruah rabbis delivered a letter from nearly 800 rabbinic and cantorial colleagues to the Israeli Embassy urging the withdrawal of the government’s plan. Another delegation of rabbis from T’ruah presented the letter to Major General (res.) Doron Almog, Director of the Headquarters for Economic Community Development of the Negev Bedouins in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office at a meeting in New York in November.
“As the 800 rabbis and cantors who wrote to Prime Minister Netanyahu in opposition of this plan attest, such forced displacement contradicts both Jewish property law and human rights law, as well as the moral values of the Jewish tradition,” said Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Executive Director of T’ruah. “We urge Prime Minister Netanyahu to work in partnership with Bedouin communities to develop a new plan that supports the economic and cultural flourishing of these communities.”
The rabbinic letter urges Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government to “treat Israel’s Bedouin population as equal citizens, involve community members in policy decisions that affect their future, and work together to develop zoning plans that meet their needs.”
To view the rabbinic letter to Netanyahu and the full list of signatories, visit:http://bit.ly/BedouinRabbis.
Related Material:
- Israeli Prime Minister’s Office Promises Response to “Clergy United Against Bedouin Dispossession” Letter from 780 Rabbis and Cantors, November 12, 2013.
- 775 Rabbinic Leaders Urge Fair Treatment of Bedouin and Withdrawal of Legislation that Would Lead to Forced Relocation of 30,000-40,000 Citizens, November 6, 2013.
- Jewish Organizations Meet with White House National Security Council and State Department Officials on Israeli Government Plan, August 23, 2013.
- T’ruah, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association Urge Knesset to Reconsider Plan that Threatens to Dispossess Bedouin, June 27, 2013.
- Reform Movement Urges Netanyahu to Suspend Plan for Negev Bedouin, June 10, 2013.
- OHALAH Board Statement on Bedouin Settlement in the Negev, May 30, 2013.
