Israel faces crisis as tree-planting in Negev desert sparks Bedouin protests

Israeli security forces detain a Bedouin youth during a protest against tree-planting by the Jewish National Fund on disputed land near beduin village of al-Atrash at the Negev desert, southern Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. The conflict in southern Israel, which is home to Bedouin villages unrecognized by the state, has divided the Israeli government with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid calling for halting the tree-planting while the Islamist Ra’am party has threatened to withhold its votes in parliament in protest. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Israel’s fragile governing coalition faced a crisis on Wednesday after Bedouins staged protests against tree-planting by nationalists on disputed land in the Negev desert.

Some protesters hurled stones at vehicles on a highway near Beersheba on Tuesday evening, blocked the railway line, and torched a vehicle.