Who are Bedouin Arabs?

About Bedouin Arabs:

• The Bedouins are a nomadic Muslim Arab people who live mainly in the Negev desert of southern Israel.
• They have traditionally been pastoralists with no powerful or exclusive national affiliation who would, until about a century and a half ago, wander the area between Saudi Arabia and the Sinai with their livestock.
• The Bedouin population in Israel currently numbers 210,000 individuals residing in various regions of the state, with a significant presence in the Negev desert in the South.
• How did the Bedouins come to join the Israel Defence Forces (IDF)?
  • During the last several decades of Ottoman rule, the Bedouin began to settle into a largely sedentary life.
  • Before the formation of Israel, groups of Bedouin were employed by early Jewish settlers to guard clusters of their communities in Palestine.
  • During the Arab-Israeli war of 1948–49, many Bedouin provided valuable intelligence to the Jewish militias and the newly formed IDF, and some of them also fought against the Arab armies alongside the Jews.
  • In the 1950s, Israel recognised a large number of Bedouin as its citizens and subsequently helped build settlements for them in the Negev.
  • Many Bedouin continued to serve in the IDF, primarily in scouting or tracking units.
  • In 1970, a Bedouin scouting unit was established in the IDF’s Southern Command, and similar units have since been established in other areas. 
  • In 1993, Israel inaugurated a memorial to Bedouin warriors on a hilltop in Galilee, bearing the names of 154 Bedouin soldiers who lost their lives in the service of the country.