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David Ben-Gurion's Negev Vision

(1959)

David Ben-Gurion dreamed of developing the Negev as an important region of Israel. In 1959, when Israel’s total population was about two million, he outlined what he expected the area to be like in 1968, on the occasion of Israel’s 20th anniversary:

In 1968, 500,000 people will live in the Negev. There will be four urban centers: Beer Sheva, Dimona, [Mitspe] Ramon and Eilat. 20,000 families will make their living from agriculture, once we complete the National Water Carrier and develop desalination capabilities. Another 20,000 will work in the mining industries, producing phosphates, copper, iron and other minerals. We'll develop a chemical industry and in the cities there will be additional industry, and 50,000 heads of family will be employed there. Thousands will be employed in the port of Eilat, and perhaps 10,000 in transportation. 80% of the people will be immigrants, and 20% will be haluzim [pioneers] from existing settlements, and university trained teachers and doctors. We’ll pave a new road the length of the Arava, since the present narrow road to Eilat isn't sufficient; the geologists think we might find oil south of the Dead Sea.

Today, the population of Israel is 8.6 million. The population of the Negev did not reach 500,000 until 2003. Dimona has remained a small town, Mitspeh Ramon is tiny, Eilat is a major tourism town but its port is marginal. One of the most significant sources of population growth came from the Bedouin communities, who did not factor into Ben-Gurion’s vision. Agriculture in the Negev cannot support 20,000 families. There is a mining industry based on phosphates, but no copper or iron. And no one has discovered oil.


Source: Israel State Archives