Some Israeli media have also condemned the plan on the basis that the Bedouins are Israel citizens who were granted citizenship in the 1950s.
"These are Israeli citizens -- citizens in a "democratic' state, some of whom have even served the country militarily -- who are now having their homes destroyed," David Harris-Gershon wrote in his blog for the Tikkun Daily.
"The plan [is] to regularize Bedouin settlement in the Negev', but it does nothing to solve problems and regularize our settlements -- it stipulates only destruction," said Fadi El-Obra, a 29-year-old from Rahat, speaking against the Prawer Plan to the International Solidarity Movement.
The UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon issued a statement on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People calling for Israel to call off plans to expand building in the settlements. Israel and the Palestinian Authority agreed to restart peace talks this summer after a three-year diplomatic stalemate. In spite of the revival of negotiations, very little headway has been made on some of the most pressing issues obstructing a peace agreement.
The Palestinian Authority has slammed Israel's plans to continue expanding settlements, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the Palestinian side of purposely "inciting artificial crises."
Israel "will not be subjected to any restrictions concerning settlement," Netanyahu recently vowed at a meeting with the Israeli right-wing Likud bloc, stressing that the Palestinians are well aware of that.
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