The land auction in the Negev and the intervention of Mansour Abbas against the Bedouin soldiers of the IDF: in a recording obtained by Here News, it was revealed today in the program This Morning on the Kan Network on (Thursday) how the head of the Authority for the Development of the Bedouins in the Negev, Yair Maayan, describes in a way that does not imply two faces the strength of the influence that was To the chairman of the Ra’am party, Mansur Abbas, about the government and its leaders.
In the recording Maayan describes a tender for 400 housing units, in the 6 Berhat complex, which was released last year. Out of all the apartments, a third were intended for IDF Bedouin soldiers. But following an appeal by the mayor of Rahat, Faiz Abu Sahiban, to Mansour Abbas, the latter intervened and contacted the office of then Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Prime Minister Shalom Shlomo.
In the recording, a source can be heard saying: “Mayor Rahat wrote on Facebook that after efforts, and an appeal to MK Mansour Abbas, there will be no priority for soldiers in Rahat. And instead of 30 percent, we lowered it to 10 percent.” Ma’ayan claimed that Abbas contacted the Prime Minister’s Office and Prime Minister Shalom Shlomo, and as a result, the benefit to the soldiers was canceled. The Israel Lands Administration claims that they made sure to add more land in the future and thus actually return the benefit to the soldiers. But at this stage, According to Maayan’s version, Mayor Rahat tried to reduce the number of lands for soldiers and even called Mansour Abbas in his presence.
The Prime Minister’s Office responded: lies and falsehood. The government secretary did not deal with this issue at all, nor was there any conversation between him and MK Mansour Abbas or Yair Maayan on the alleged issue.
Mayor Rahat Faiz Abu Sahiban’s response: Yair Maayan is a liar. I asked that land be given to Merhat Bedouins who are over 40 years old.
Yair Maayan’s response: I am proud of my firm stand by the brothers in arms of the Bedouin warriors and in maintaining their rights as determined by the government.
Israel Lands Director’s response: This is the nonsense of Yair Maayan who at the time ran for the position of director of the Israel Lands Authority and his candidacy was rejected, among other things, because he did not meet the threshold conditions for the position.
As a matter of fact, there was indeed a dialogue between the Israel Land Authority, the Ministry of Defense and the mayor on the issue. As part of the effort to increase the supply of housing, the director of the southern region proposed to increase the scope of marketing on the one hand and on the other hand to maintain the eligibility rate for soldiers. These conditions were even anchored in the decision of the Israel Land Authority.
Bennett’s office and Mansour Abbas’s office did not respond.