Cabinet Approves NIS 350 Million Plan to Develop and Strengthen Bedouin
Communities in Northern Israel
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

The Cabinet this morning (Sunday), 15.5.11, approved an approximately NIS
350 million multi-year plan to develop and strengthen the Bedouin
communities in northern Israel.

The goal of the 2011-2015 plan is to develop and strengthen the communities
and the Bedouin population in northern Israel. The plan was formulated at
the initiative of the Prime Minister's Office, in cooperation with the
Finance Ministry, Bedouin local council chairmen in the north and other
Government ministries.

In the field of education, NIS 70 million will be invested in operating
designated education plans, including for toddlers and youth-at-risk, to
make higher education more accessible and for leadership development. This
is in addition to building 60 classrooms and kindergartens (at a cost of
approximately NIS 40 million). Additionally, NIS 12.5 million will be
invested to extend the neighborhood rehabilitation project, which also deals
in education, by an additional five years.

In the field of infrastructures, NIS 100 million will be invested in
building and upgrading sewage infrastructures in the communities, which
currently constitute the main impediment to the development of communities
in the sector and are a source of environmental and water pollution. NIS 90
million will be invested in paving and upgrading transportation
infrastructures in the communities.

In the field of employment, NIS 13 million will be invested in establishing
and operating employment training and guidance centers. NIS 4 million will
be invested in a plan to encourage small and medium businesses and NIS 5
million in professional retraining. Emphasis will be placed on increasing
participation in the labor market in the Bedouin sector in general and among
women in particular.

NIS 13 million will be invested in planning and development, including NIS 8
million in housing assistance for discharged soldiers. In the municipal
sphere, NIS 17.5 million will be invested in developing older neighborhoods
and NIS 20 million in establishing and rehabilitating religious institutions
and public structures.

The communities included in the plan are: Zarzir, Ka'abia-Tabash-Hajajra,
Bir Al-Makhsur, Basmat Tivon, Bueina Nujeidat, Shabli-Um Al-Ainam,
Tiba-Zangariya and the Bedouin communities in the Al Batuf, Zevulon, Maaleh
Yosef and Jezreel Valley regional councils.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted the great importance of the plan and
added that the participation of all sectors in socio-economic and academic
life is vital for the nation. "The goal of the plan that we have approved
is to develop and strengthen the Bedouin communities in northern Israel.
This is a NIS 350 million plan. I remind you that one year ago we decided
on an approximately NIS 800 million five-year plan for the development of
the minorities sector. We also recently decided on an NIS 680 million plan
to develop the Druze and Circassian sectors. Indeed, along with the plan
that we will approve today for the Bedouin in northern Israel, we are
talking about an overall investment of approximately NIS 2 billion in order
to implement our policy of reducing the gaps between the various sectors of
Israeli society," the Prime Minister said.