Israeli Supreme Court Rejects Final Appeal by the Palestinian Bedouin Residents of Ras Jrabah, Ordering Forced Displacement of Around 500 People within 90 days to Make Way for Expansion of Jewish City of Dimona

Yesterday, 12 November 2025, the Israeli Supreme Court gave its final approval to eviction lawsuits filed by the state against all the 500-plus residents of the unrecognized Palestinian Bedouin village of Ras Jrabah in the Naqab (Negev). The court rejected a final appeal, upholding an earlier ruling by the Be’er Sheva District Court that clears the way for the village’s forced displacement to expand the adjacent Jewish city of Dimona.

Crucially, the Supreme Court approved the eviction even though the Be’er Sheva District Court had recently cancelled approval of the “Dimona East Plan,” the very project the state used as its justification for the villagers’ displacement. The District Court found that the approval of the plan was marred by serious procedural flaws, including the state’s failure to consider the possibility of integrating Ras Jrabah’s residents within it. The Supreme Court’s ruling therefore  grants the state legal authority to evict people from their land without any legitimate planning purpose or demonstrated necessity, setting a dangerous precedent.

The state’s push to evict the residents of Ras Jrabah dates back to 2019, when the Israel Land Authority (ILA) filed eviction lawsuits against the villagers, claiming that they were trespassing on the land, which was required for the implementation of the Dimona East Plan. In response, the residents argued that their displacement to another Bedouin town constituted segregation and requested to be included in scope of the plan, and proposed an alternative plan; however, the state opposed it.

The Supreme Court upheld the District Court’s finding that the residents of Ras Jrabah have lived on the land for decades with the knowledge and implicit consent of the Israeli state authorities. However, they asserted that the state may withdraw its “consent” at any time. The court held that the state’s ownership rights over the land, including the authority to evict residents,  required no further justification.

The court dismissed Adalah’s argument that the displacement of the villagers is part of a systematic policy of racial segregation that seeks to transfer Bedouin citizens into segregated townships while preventing their integration into Jewish towns. The court summarily rejected this claim, stating that “Ras Jrabah’s residents, like any other citizens, may apply for land tenders in Dimona.”

Regarding alternative housing, the court claimed that the ILA had offered suitable solutions that the residents allegedly refused, despite the fact that during the hearing, the state failed to present any immediately available, adequate housing options for the community. The state only cited the distant possibility of temporary accommodation or rental assistance in Dimona.

Adalah’s response:
“Once again, the Supreme Court has become a legal instrument of Israel’s colonial policies. By openly legitimizing the principle of apartheid, it outlaws the very presence of Palestinian Bedouins on their ancestral lands, allowing the state to forcibly displace communities at will and under any pretext. Even after approval of the plan to expand Dimona was cancelled due, inter alia, to state’s failure to consider integrating Ras Jrabah’s residents into it, the Supreme Court approved their displacement. The court is effectively conferring judicial legitimacy on Israel’s relentless policies of demolition, dispossession, and Judaization. The ruling clearly demonstrates how fully the Supreme Court has adopted the settler-colonial logic followed by Israel’s planning authorities and the ILA, based on the complete exclusion of Arab Bedouins from urban planning in Jewish towns and cities. The court does not recognize the Bedouin residents as a population with deep roots in their land, but as an obstacle to Jewish expansion. Moreover, contrary to the court’s claim that there is alternative housing available, the state has provided no viable or immediate solutions, only proposals for temporary housing or assistance with renting apartments in Dimona.”

Related press releases:

Be’er Sheva District Court Cancels Approval of Plan to Expand Dimona that Threatens to Displace Bedouin Village of Ras Jrabah and Its 500 Residents, 25/06/2025 

Bedouin residents of Ras Jrabah present concrete alternatives to Israel’s plan to erase their village and double the size of the Jewish city of Dimona, 29/09/2024