65

31°18′41″N / 34°57′57″E

October 9, 2011. Yatir Forest extension on the outskirts of the settlement of Meitar and Ḥūra Bedouin township. Ḥūra, established in 1989 as a part of the State of Israel’s solution for the Negev Bedouins, is one of seven Bedouin townships in the Negev envisioned by the state as part of its Abu Basma Plan to sedentarize the traditionally nomadic Bedouins of the desert with approved plans and developed infrastructure. Ḥūra currently houses nearly 60 percent of the Bedouin citizens of Israel. The Yatir Forest was first planted in 1964, and was initiated by Yosef Weitz, the founder of the JNF. Yatir has become the largest forest in Israel, with more than four million trees in an expanse of more than 30 kilometers. This site lies between a broad closed military zone and the border of the Israeli Occupied Territories, the forested area functioning as a buffer zone.