ABSTRACT
Is the dream of settling the Negev an impossible one? Does it stand the test of geography? Or is the effort to settle the Negev simply a geopolitical measure taken to prove the justice of Israeli sovereignty over the arid areas it captured in the War of Independence? In order to reply to these questions we must compare the geographical features of the Negev with those of other arid or semi-arid regions in the world, highlight their characteristics, the similar and dissimilar in them, and on that basis evaluate the potential in the Negev and its prospects for future settlement.
