Jerusalem, 7 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, Wednesday, conducted a comprehensive tour of the Western Negev together with Defense Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and other senior officials. The Prime Minister’s Office said the tour was part of a “multidisciplinary national effort that includes strengthening and developing the region, completing strategic solutions in the region, and combating crime in Arab society.”

At the beginning of the tour, the members arrived at the settlement of Revivim, where they conducted an observation of the bedouin town Bir Bir Hadaj, and received a review on the handling and enforcement of the Israel Police against the phenomena of smuggling and illegal possession of weapons in the south, and were later exposed to the seizures of weapons and the thwarting of significant smuggling operations carried out by police forces in the area and at the borders.

The tour focused on a broad national plan promoted by the Prime Minister’s Office, which includes: strengthening the state’s grip on the territory, promoting plans to expand settlement and increase demographic growth, developing new employment areas, improving civil infrastructure, and meeting the security needs of residents. The plan is based on inter-ministerial staff work to strengthen the borders and build the multidimensional national plan for the Negev.

“The Negev is raging,” said Netanyahu. “We are curbing it, and an important operation by the Israel Police, in conjunction with other forces, has begun. To curb it, we need to understand that the criminal threat and the security threat are merging into one another.”

“Therefore, we will bring a national project to achieve all these goals, but first and foremost – to return governance to the Negev,” he declared.

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