Bedouin Interests Are Israel’s Interests

Rebecca Manski

As a child in Israel, I often heard the lament: “If the Palestinians had simply accepted Israeli citizenship, this conflict would never have occurred.” When I returned 15 years later, I heard many Israelis say of the Arabs who did in fact accept Israeli citizenship: “If they only served the country as we do, in the military, we would feel better about providing them with services.” Yet the experience of the Negev Bedouin, people who embraced Israeli citizenship and until recently, generally served in the army, shows that this is not the case. ...