His father must be rolling over in his grave

Led by Minister without portfolio Benny Begin (who will not be an MK in the next government), the lame duck cabinet on Sunday approved the gifting of some 50,000 dunams of Negev land to Bedouin tribes who have been squatting there for years.

The Cabinet voted Sunday to approve changes proposed by Minister Benny Begin in the plan to legalize piratic Bedouin settlement in the Negev. The changes are described by opponents in the pro-Jewish settlement NGO Regavim as "a historic mistake." The changes still require approval by the Knesset in order to become the law of the land.

The plan will add more Bedouin settlements to the list of those that will receive official recognition, and increase the amount of land that will be handed over to Bedouin as part of an agreement.

MK-elect Moshe Feiglin said that Begin was acting dishonestly by bringing the plan to the government a short time after elections, when he is about to leave his office as minister after being voted out of Likud's leadership. He accused Begin of "abandoning the Jewish settlement enterprise in the Negev."

According to the government, however, Minister Begin's recommendations were formulated in the wake of "unprecedented consultations" he held among Negev Bedouin, during which he and the Construction and Housing Ministry Authority on Formalizing the Status of Bedouin

Settlement in the Negev officials met with over 1,000 Negev Bedouin, as well as their relevant groups and organizations..

Regavim noted that Begin did not meet with its representatives.

In its decision, the Cabinet adopted the recommendations of the commission chaired by retired Supreme Court Judge Eliezer Goldberg, which proposed "to recognize – as much as possible – each of the unrecognized villages in which there is a minimal mass of residents, such as will be determined, and which will be able to bear municipal status, and on the condition that such recognition will not contravene the district master plan."

Regarding ownership claims, it was decided – inter alia – that compensation, in land or money, will be given for all of the area in question (and not just half, as determined by a decision of the previous government.

The recommendations still need to be approved by the incoming Knesset. Begin's father must be rolling over in his grave at the giveaway of the land of Israel.