The Negev is Israel''s biggest challenge and I am really not the first one to declare it so.
It is well known that Israel''s first prime minister David Ben Gurion was the biggest Negev visionary.
He saw many years ago the wide potential of this wide piece of land and thought this is the direction where Israel has to grow to. He noticed the large quantities of several different minerals in the Negev soil, the Agricultural potential and the wide space that can be used for the growing Israeli population. When I learned about Ben Gurion''s foresight as a student of Political Science at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, I became a big fan and started to read more and more about his ideas and vision. I think Ben Gurion had the rare ability of not many leaders around the world to see the reality as it is and face its challenges. When we moved to the Negev about 10 years ago we were following his steps and felt the pioneer spirit that attracted Ben Gurion to Kibbutz Sde-Boker dozens of years ago.
I believe that ben Gurion''s vision was forgotten through the years. Not enough efforts has been taken to settle the Negev and not enough resources were given to develop the Negev. Much more should be done and the target should be to have 2 million Israelis living in the Negev by 2025. This sounds incredible but is what we should do, cause sometimes a state has got to do what a state has got to do.
Chami Zemach
The Israeli Family Project
isrfamily@gmail.com
