Negev

Let's read this story.

Abraham journeyed from there to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur.

While he was sojourning in Gerar, Abraham said of Sarah, his wife, she is my sister.

So King Avimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

Ironically enough, with the two guys currently fighting over who gets to be the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and Gadi Eisenkot.

But back in 2018, Netanyahu as prime minister and Eizenkot as the chief of staff of the Israeli Defence Forces were being helicoptered into the middle of the Negev desert to visit a military base.

The Ra'im Camp is the headquarters of the Gaza Division of the IDF, the unit devoted to protecting southern Israeli towns and kibbutzim from Hamas raids out of Gaza.

And the Gaza Division had recently been very busy.

It was more than the Haredi vote, the secular vote, the national orthodox vote.

Rahat, the Bedouin city in the Negev, in the south, voted way more than Tel Aviv.

But I think that it has changed Israeli politics.

Because once they have something like 18 seats, 15% of the popular vote, it prevents both the right wing and the left wing from having an outright majority.

Just because I know we're running short of time and, you know, I do want to touch at some stage upon the experiences of Palestinian citizens of Israel.

And, you know, I was out with Mansour Abbas's team just a few days ago and they were talking about the kind of discrimination they felt over the past few years and the demolitions in the Negev desert facing the Bedouin community.

I also want to ask Esther that, you know, these results...

The polls prior to what we've seen now were predicting a much stronger showing for the opposition, Eisencourt-led alliance.

As far as I see the numbers right now, it's already six.

And Rahat, which is the southern city of the Bedouin in the Negev, and it's a huge city, the ballots from there were not counted yet.

It will probably, you know, there's a prediction that says that Ram will probably go in up to seven seats.

And with the joint Arab list on around... 12 or 11, you're looking at, you know, really a whooping number of 18 or 19 seats, unprecedented, you know, the numbers for the participation is 76%.

It was more than the Haredi vote, the secular vote, the national orthodox vote.

Rahat, the Bedouin city in the Negev, in the south, voted way more than Tel Aviv.

But I think that it has changed Israeli politics.

Because once they have something like 18 seats, 15% of the popular vote, it prevents both the right wing and the left wing from having an outright majority.

Then the children of Judah attacked Jerusalem, captured it, struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

Afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites that dwelt in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the lowland.

Judah then marched against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron.

The former name of Hebron was Kiryat Arba.

So Caleb gave him his daughter Achsa as a wife.

Now it came about when she came to him, she had persuaded Othniel to ask her father for a field.

When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, What do you need? Give me a blessing, she said, for you have given me land in the Negev.

You should also give me springs of water.

It was the day before yesterday.

I did a long trek through the Negev Desert.

And we were in Vaditsin on a place that's very special.

And it's the last dry day of the year.