The government of Israel and the health care of the Negev Bedouin under military government, 1948-1966.

Bedouin Arabs in Israel are a Muslim society undergoing dramatic social change. The Bedouin have lived in the Negev desert since the sixth century, having migrated there from the Arabian Peninsula. In the course of the last five decades this traditionally nomadic/semi-nomadic population has undergone rapid modernization and urbanization, and today approximately 120,000 Bedouin Arabs live in the Negev.' Traditionally herders and farmers, only about 5 per cent of the Negev Bedouin are still semi-nomadic tent dwellers.2 Most families are sedentary, living in sub-tribal groups in shacks and houses. The Negev Bedouin population has the lowest socio-economic rating of all localities and social groups in Israeli society.3 Even as late as 1917, when Ottoman rule over the region was concluded at the end of the First World War, modern medical services for the rural population were rare and mostly inaccessible, except for infrequent and unscheduled visits by a physician.4 Although the British made some limited attempts to introduce western health care to the Negev Bedouin Arabs during the Mandate Period (1917-48), their efforts were largely confined to preventive services and hygiene. However, by the mid-1930s there was a small eight-bed hospital in Beer Sheva and four clinics in the Negev region.5 None the less, these meagre services and personnel were totally incapable of providing for the health needs of the Bedouin population, the majority of whom still lived on the periphery of settlement in the country.6