Haaretz newspaper revealed that several of these communities could be built on land designated as ecological corridors or areas of outstanding natural beauty.

The initiative was sanctioned the day before by the Cabinet, with the opposition of the Minister of Environmental Protection, Tamar Zandberg, who warned on its impact on nature and the economy.

“There is a dangerous trend of government decisions to establish new cities, which means invading open spaces in Israel”, Zandberg said.

The plan was also questioned by some local community leaders, both Arab and Jewish.

Jewish people prefer to strengthen and expand existing Jewish settlements, the newspaper reported.

For his part, Amir Bisharat, advisor to the national committee of Arab local authorities, denounced the proposal as “the government chooses to stick its finger in our eyes and prevent any expansion of Bedouin communities”.

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