ABSTRACT
The Negev, it is said, is where God first spoke to Abraham and where monotheism began. As early as the fourth century B.C.E., the Nabateans formed large communities in the Negev based on artificial irrigation and carefully devised schemes for storing and using available water. Even the first Zionist leaders showed little awareness of the region's potential contribution to the future of the Jewish State because of its inhospitable conditions and lack of sufficient water to support agriculture. This chapter focuses on the region because of its strategic location. The Negev bisects the Arab world, with Asia to the east and Africa to the west, and also serves as a natural land mass connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Expectations were high that the transfer of Israel Defense Forces bases to the Negev would be a significant reason for career officers and other army personnel to relocate their families and places of residence to the region.
