SETTLER SUBURBIA IN THE NEGEV/NAQAB: THE START-UP PIONEER IN THE DESERT

ABSTRACT

Within the recognized borders of Israel, in the shadow of the West Bank settlement enterprise, a new frontier is in the making. Central planning has designated the space as a burgeoning metropolitan region, and, in a parallel process, a network of Jewish-only settlements has been established. This study asks how the settlement push is narrated to the Israeli public, and thereby adds the Naqab to previous studies exploring the link between colonial settlement and suburbia, and more specifically with the community-settlement model. It analyzes audiovisual material produced by two Zionist organizations and finds that the new frontier is narrated as a space for reenactment of the mythic pioneer trope, and that this ideal is mediated in relation to the new neoliberal ethos of Israel as the “start-up nation.” The study moreover expands on the interplay of geographic scales, thus adding an important contribution to scholarly understanding of contemporary settler-colonialism.

Keywords::

• frontier
• Negev/Naqab
• settler-colonialism
• suburbia
• Zionism

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Mekonnen Tesfahuney, Joseph Getzoff and Patricia Lorenzoni for comments, as well as the editor and the three anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ “A new community changing the face of Israel,” YouTube video, 4: 31, Or Movement, 4 July 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_J7aJFEZyk&t=219s.

² The word settlement is translated in Hebrew to either hityashvut or hitnahalut, where the first normally refers to settlements inside the Green Line and the second to settlements on the West Bank. According to Liron Shani (2018), the latter signals a self-image as bearer of Zionist legacy while the former is normally located on the left side of the political spectrum.

³ Negev 2015 and DOP 4/14/23 share a vision in which the new Beersheba metropolitan area is connected to the central core with networks of infrastructure. Interview with city planner from the private sector (March 2021). This information if also found in the Beer Sheva Metropolitan Plan 2030 and in the Israel 2040 vision.

⁴ “National Industrial Zone in the Negev” (1972) in Teschner et al. (2010).

⁵ The summary was retrieved from the KKL 2040 website found at https://hanof.kkl.org.il/utilities/2040_Take%20part%20in%20creating%20Israel’s%20future_Marketing_joint.html.

⁶ Since the 1980s, the idea of growth hubs as opposed to equally distributed development has dominated Israeli planning policy. Tech developments in the “peripheries” are supported by the state (Maggor and Frenkel 2022).

⁷ A flagship project within this sphere is the agricultural integration development project “Wadi Attir.” This is an experimental farm constructed as an education platform aimed at exploring integration between traditional Bedouin practices and agriculture, for example sheep and goat herding on afforested lands. The project is initiated by the Sustainability Lab, a U.S.- based nonprofit organization and representatives of the municipality of the Bedouin town Hura. It is mainly funded by the State of Israel through a variety of ministries and by the Jewish National Fund. It is also funded by private, mainly United States, donors.

⁸ Part of the work done by KKL-JNF and Or movement are directed to rebuilding and “strengthening” neighborhoods in development towns. This type of work, however, is not functioning as a representation of the imagined geography produced in the community villages.

⁹ Or movement website. n.d. “Our Mission: Building the Future of Israel.” https://or1.org.il/english/our-mission/.

¹⁰ What’s Your why?” YouTube video, 1:04, Jewish National Fund, 2 December 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMQHZMSdOfQ&list=PLdngcZZmFOwtWq292Ens5zTZaueAtPV5I&index=13.

¹¹ “A new community changing the face of Israel,” YouTube video, 4:31, Or Movement, 4 July 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_J7aJFEZyk&t=219s.

¹² “Carmit Blueprint Negev,” YouTube video, 2:22, JNF-USA, 14 May 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSWXUV-FLPQ.

¹³ “Meet the Determined Pioneers of Merchav Am in the Negev,” YouTube video, 5:11, KKL JNF Worldwide, 22 September 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUiCLBkzvlA.

¹⁴ Or movement website, n.d. “About Merchav Am,” https://or1.org.il/english_settlements/merchav-am/. See also Government of Israel, “PM Sharon’s Address at the Event at Adiel-Ashelim Village,” 21 November 2004, https://www.gov.il/en/departments/news/speach22111.

¹⁵ “Larry King about Or Movement’s 2048 Vision,” YouTube video, 1:10, Or movement, 27 October 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaGY96PHdBk&list=PLdngcZZmFOwsm5zyul0jcadSs3E98lc2x&index=2&t=70s.

¹⁶ KKL-JNF website, “Israel 2040—The JNF is building the land of tomorrow,” n.d. https://www.kkl-jnf.org/people-and-environment/community-development/israel-2040/.

¹⁷ Jewish National Fund, “The Future is Beautiful. One-billion-dollar roadmap for the next generation.” https://usa.jnf.org/assets/pdf/thebilliondollarroadmap_digital_v-1.pdf.

¹⁸ “Israel 2040: Turning the Negev and Galilee into Hi-Tech Hubs—an Animation,” YouTube video, 1:08, KKL-JNF Worldwide. 8 December 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olc3bMcU1Ro&t=8s.

¹⁹ “Meet the Determined Pioneers of Merchav Am in the Negev,” YouTube video, 5:11, KKL JNF Worldwide, 22 September 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUiCLBkzvlA.

²⁰ “Karnei Ramon 2017 Accomplishments,” YouTube video, 1:32, Or Movement, 1 January 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2Jnfgy1CjM.

²¹ “Happy New year from the Or Movement,” YouTube video, 1:59, Or movement, 10 September 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_mCqtCqnng&list=PLdngcZZmFOwsm5zyul0jcadSs3E98lc2x&index=5.

²² “The Or movement—Ofir Fisher i24 Interview,” YouTube video, 7:24, Or movement, 13 November 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvlZ5zzb9m8&list=PLdngcZZmFOwsm5zyul0jcadSs3E98lc2x&index=6.

²³ See, for example, the above video and “Meet the Determined Pioneers of Merchav Am in the Negev,” YouTube video, 5:11, KKL JNF Worldwide, 22 September 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUiCLBkzvlA.

²⁴ The Or movement Main Movie,” YouTube video, 5:22, Or movement, 12 September 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMiCBgRLjuU&t=7s.

²⁵ “The Or movement Main Movie,” YouTube video, 5:22, Or movement, 12 September 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMiCBgRLjuU&t=7s.

²⁶ “Larry King about Or Movement’s 2048 Vision,” YouTube video, 1:10, Or movement, 27 October 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaGY96PHdBk&list=PLdngcZZmFOwsm5zyul0jcadSs3E98lc2x&index=2&t=70s.

²⁷ Interview with planner from the private sector (2021).

²⁸ Peace Now, “KKL-JNF and its role in settlement expansion,” report, April 2020, https://peacenow.org.il/en/settler-national-fund-keren-kayemeth-leisraels-acquisition-of-west-bank-land.

²⁹ The Or movement Main Movie,” YouTube video, 5:22, Or movement, 12 September 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMiCBgRLjuU&t=7s.