Illegal Bedouin structures ‘choke’ Israeli Air Force base, watchdog reports

The Nevatim Air Force Base is located in the Negev, about 15 kilometers southeast of Beer-Sheva.

By David Israel, TPS

More than 1,000 structures identified as illegal construction have been documented within 500 meters of the Nevatim Air Force Base in the Negev, including 117 within 100 meters of the base’s perimeter fence, according to data released Monday by Regavim, raising security concerns around one of Israel’s strategic air bases.

Regavim, an Israeli nonprofit that monitors land use, planning, and illegal construction, particularly in the Negev and Judea and Samaria, identified a total of 1,038 structures in several clusters of Bedouin construction near the base.

Of these, 117 are located within 100 meters of the perimeter fence, while 921 are between 100 and 500 meters from the fence.

The Nevatim Air Force Base is located in the Negev, about 15 kilometers southeast of Beer-Sheva.

“The proximity to the base’s fence is so extreme that residents of the illegal structures hang laundry on it and tie animals to it,” Regavim said.

The findings come against the backdrop of separate security concerns in the area.

An April State Comptroller’s report documenting what it described as Bedouin lawlessness in the Negev noted an increase in shooting incidents near the base, including cases in which gunfire reached the base itself. In one incident, an aircraft wing was damaged.

Regavim has called on the Defense Minister, the air force commander, and southern law enforcement authorities to take action against the construction.

Regavim described the construction as a “choking ring around the base,” citing the State Comptroller’s findings on shooting incidents in the area.