The inter-ministerial committee on planting trees in the Negev region convened July 13 to discuss a development plan for an area near the Bedouin townships of Segev Shalom and Abu Talul. According to reports in the media, the committee approved, for the time being, only partial implementation of the plan. However, environmental groups and representatives of the Bedouin community in the vicinity are warning against the plan and also against the general policy of greening the desert.

The vision of planting trees is embedded in Israel’s modern history. At the beginning of the 20th century, pioneers from Europe and Russia struggled to dry up the swamps up north and rid the region of malaria. They planted eucalyptus trees and turned the swamps into fertile agricultural lands. After Israel was established in 1948, its leaders committed to making the desert lands in the south flourish. It was this vision that turned Israel into a pioneer in the field of water management and drip irrigation.

The Jewish National Fund was entrusted with the mission of planting trees across the country and of making the desert flourish. For many Israeli Jews, this was, and still is, the ultimate expression of Zionism. This public organization argues that the tree-planting vision fits perfectly with the global call for more trees as means of reducing carbon dioxide emissions and combating climate change. The fund's leaders say their mission has to do with planting, with no politics involved.

That being said, not all environmental groups agree with that approach. Several of them claim that what was right in the early years of the State of Israel is no longer true. They claim that planting trees in the Negev desert would alter this unique habitat and damage the fragile ecological system. For them, the desert vegetation should be preserved, not turned into a forest. The green groups also warn that species typical of this region would disappear in favor of new species attracted by the man-planted trees.