cc: flickr by Shlomi Fish

A majority within Jewish Israelis opposes the Praver/Begin Plan (42.8% opposed vs. 32.4% in favor). | Most in the community think the Bedouin’s land claims are fair (47% vs. 34.6%), but before those claims were presented to them, most of the respondents thought the Bedouin were taking over the Negev (88%). | 35% of the public were surprised by those Bedouin claims, as they had been informed differently by the media. | The results of “The Panels Institute” survey commissioned by Rabbis for Human Rights.

·        The findings indicate a campaign of unprecedented incitement and misinformation, which caused the Israeli public to believe that the Bedouin were taking over the Negev; whereas their actual claims are seen as fair by a majority of Jews in Israel (the Bedouin demand 5.4% of Negev land, while they constitute 30% of its population).

·        70% of the Jewish population were under the impression that the Bedouin were claiming five times the area of their actual demands (before they were shown the actual claims).

·        The survey showed how exposure to factual information regarding the Praver Plan led to an immediate change of position: after being exposed to the information about Bedouin claims to the land, the percentage of those who thought the Bedouin were being targeted for mistreatment jumped instantly from 6.8% to 23.4%. After they were told the projected cost of the plan, most of the respondents opposed it.

  [The complete findings are attached to this post in Hebrew]

Today, 24 June, the results of survey conducted by “the Panels Institute” – commissioned by Rabbis for Human Rights, a member of the Hakkarah [recognition] Forum – were released. The survey was conducted through a sampling of 500 people, adults of the Israeli Jewish population. The margin of error is ±4.4%.

The survey found that before exposure to any factual information, 52.2% of Jewish Israelis thought the Bedouin were taking over the Negev and that the problem was severe, while 35.4% thought there was some truth to that claim – that if the unlawful construction were to continue it would happen (altogether about 88% thought that to whatever degree, the claim of Bedouin takeover of the Negev was correct). Afterwards the sample population was asked what percentage of the Negev the Bedouin – who account for 30% of the Negev population – were demanding. 62.6% of the Jews thought the Bedouin were claiming a larger percentage of the Negev than their percentage of the population (they attributed to the Bedouin claims of 31% of the Negev and upwards). In fact the Bedouin are claiming a much smaller section – only 5.4% of the Negev area. And at least 93.8% of the Jews thought the Bedouin wanted a larger section of the Negev (more than 7%) than what they have actually demanded (5.4%). These numbers indicate an utterly erroneous perception of actual Bedouin claims.

Bedouin Claims Are Fair in the Eyes of Most of the Public:

During the next stage the respondents were asked: if the Bedouin, who constitute 30% of the Negev population, were to demand 5.4% of the Negev land, would that be a fair claim? Most of the respondents [47%] answered yes, vs. 34.6% who still saw the demand as unfair. The remainder did not express a clear opinion. It should be noted that this majority obtains even though the respondents were not presented with comparative data regarding the Negev area populated by Jews. In practice even from a comparative standpoint the population density of unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev is six times that of adjacent Jewish agricultural settlements – the Bnei Shimon Regional Council; and in Bedouin towns the density is higher than in Jewish Negev towns. Exposure to these comparative data is likely to further increase support for Bedouin claims as fair, even modest or minimal.

Surprise from the Data and a Significant Change of Position:

Once they were informed that the Bedouin indeed demand only 5.4% of the Negev area, 35.8% of the respondents answered that they were surprised, as they had heard in the media otherwise. 23.4% said that was not a surprise, since the Bedouin are targets of discrimination and incitement, and the land belongs to them anyway; all this while of the same sample population, at the survey outset (i.e. before they were exposed to the data), only 6.8% thought that the claim of a Bedouin takeover of the Negev was libelous. That represents a tremendous jump in support for Bedouin demands, merely as a result of exposure to a simple datum – the actual Bedouin demands!

Finally, after exposure to the data, the respondents gave their answers regarding their support for the Praver Plan, and they were provided with its projected cost (would they support a plan that would cost 6-8 billion shekels, to transfer the Bedouin from their villages to towns to be built for that purpose). Most of the respondents (42.8%) said such a program should not be implemented. 32.4% maintained that it should nevertheless be implemented, while 24.8% answered that they did not know.

Rabbis for Human Rights: The findings indicate the effects of a severe campaign of incitement and misinformation against the Bedouin population, creating the impression that the Bedouin are plotting to take over the Negev, while in fact their modest demands – considered fair by most of the Jewish population – are proportionate to less than a sixth of their share of the population. Certain elements of the government and media must conduct an internal reckoning of their behavior, how they incited the Jewish public against the Bedouin and created a false, distorted portrayal  – thus violating the prohibition not to mislead other people (see Tractate Hullin).

The full findings and exact questions are attached to this mailing.