Israel’s State Comptroller warns of the phenomenon of polygamy within the Bedouin community in the Negev , and says in his latest report that it is contrary to civil law and produces security threats, explaining that Arab men in the Negev within the 1948 territories marry a second, third, and fourth wife to women of West Bank origin, so their children grow up with a mature Palestinian identity and are hostile to Israel.
The State Comptroller, who speaks about the legal, humanitarian and security dimensions of the phenomenon of polygamy in the Negev, hides old Israeli fears of the natural increase among the Negev Bedouin, whose numbers have more than doubled from about 12,000 people after the Nakba of 1948 (about 90,000 of them were displaced in the Nakba) to more than 300,000 people due to blessed births and the continuation of the phenomenon of polygamy as well.
Local observers note that the “State Comptroller” and other Israeli authorities are aware of this phenomenon and are dealing with it for declared humanitarian and human rights reasons related to women, but in reality they practice injustice, discrimination, siege and displacement against them, which reflects the real motives behind the reports on polygamy from an Israeli perspective.
The State Comptroller had noted in his report the phenomenon of “lack of governance, state of chaos and the phenomenon of extortion in the Negev.”
The Arab Movement for Change, headed by Dr. Ahmed Tibi, commented on the Israeli “State Comptroller’s” report in a statement, saying that this proposal reflects a disturbing approach that holds the Arab Bedouin community responsible for a reality that is essentially a direct result of accumulated government policies based on neglect and marginalization, not on fair planning.
She also said that describing the tens of thousands of citizens living in unrecognized villages as “outside the system and organization,” or linking their social conditions to political and identity-based discourses, constitutes a blatant disregard for the basic truth: these are citizens who have been deprived for many years of their most basic rights, foremost among them the recognition of their towns, and access to infrastructure and basic services such as water, electricity, education, health and transportation.
The movement believes that the essence of the crisis in the Negev does not lie in the society itself, but rather in systematic official Israeli policies based on non-recognition of villages, continued demolition of homes, and the pursuit of policies of displacement and uprooting, in addition to the absence of equality in various areas of life, which has led to a complex social and economic reality for which the state bears full responsibility.
The movement also warns against using terms like “Palestinization” in a civil-social context, because this carries the risk of inflaming the discourse and turning civil rights issues into a security and identity file, which does not offer solutions, but rather exacerbates the crisis and deepens the gaps.
In this context, the movement points out that the statements and positions issued within Israel following the report reveal a clear political race between Naftali Bennett and Itamar Ben-Gvir, each of whom seeks to exploit this sensitive issue to achieve narrow electoral gains, by adopting an escalating and inflammatory discourse that does not serve the interests of citizens and does not offer real solutions on the ground.
The Arab Movement for Change asserts that the State Comptroller’s talk of “closing the window of opportunity” should be understood differently; the real opportunity that is eroding is the state’s opportunity to correct its policies, through the immediate recognition of the unrecognized villages, the cessation of demolition and displacement policies, work on developing infrastructure, serious investment in the fields of education, employment and health, and building a real partnership based on equality and justice.
In closing, the movement emphasizes that any serious approach to the situation in the Negev must be comprehensive, civil, and just, based on ending policies of discrimination and exclusion, not on generalizations or characterizations that undermine the identity of the citizens or justify the continuation of the current approach. It affirms that the solution lies in justice, equality, and genuine partnership, not in inflammatory rhetoric or assigning blame to one side.
