Editing Negev (section)

==Environmental issues==
{{Update section|date=January 2019}}
[[File:Midreshet Ben Gurion.jpg|thumb| Campus of [[Midreshet Ben Gurion]]]]

The Negev is home to hazardous infrastructures that include [[Negev Nuclear Research Center]] [[nuclear reactor]], 22 agrochemical and petrochemical factories, an oil terminal, closed military zones, quarries, a toxic waste incinerator at [[Ne'ot Hovav]], cell towers, a power plant, several airports, a prison, and two rivers of open sewage.<ref name= Manski>{{cite web|last=Manski|first=Rebecca|title=Bedouin Vilified Among Top 10 Environmental Hazards in Israel|url=http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/aicafe/103-topics/news/825-bedouin-vilified-among-top-10-environmental-hazards-in-israel-825|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131205045321/http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/aicafe/103-topics/news/825-bedouin-vilified-among-top-10-environmental-hazards-in-israel-825|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 December 2013|publisher=AIC|access-date=12 April 2013}}</ref>

In 2005, the Tel Aviv municipality was accused of dumping waste in the Negev at the {{ill| Dudaim Waste Facility|lt=Dudaim dump|he|דודאים (אתר פסולת)}}.<ref>{{cite web |first=Gali |last=Berger |url=http://www.boker.org.il//english/sinofwaste.htm |title=Sin of waste / Municipal refuse that's out of sight, out of mind |work=Haaretz |date=October 12, 2005 |publisher=boker.org.il |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609181637/http://www.boker.org.il//english/sinofwaste.htm |archive-date=June 9, 2011 |access-date=July 29, 2008 }}</ref> The Manufacturers Association of Israel established an authority in 2005 to move 60 industrial enterprises active in the Tel Aviv region to the Negev.<ref>{{cite web |first=Hadas |last=Manor |url=http://www.boker.org.il//english/manufacturers.htm |title=Manufacturers promoting transfer of 60 factories to Negev |work=Globes |date=August 11, 2005 |publisher=boker.org.il |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051122204446/http://www.boker.org.il/english/manufacturers.htm |archive-date=November 22, 2005 |access-date=July 29, 2008 }}</ref>

[[File:Statue in the Negev desert of Israel.jpg|thumb|"Negev Guardian" (2005), 16 m tall environmental statue by Emilio Mogilner next to [[Ramat Hovav]] industrial zone, protesting against pollution]]

In 1979, the [[Ramat Hovav]] toxic waste facility was established in [[Wadi el-Na'am]] because the area was perceived as invulnerable to leakage. However, within a decade, cracks were found in the rock beneath Ramat Hovav.<ref name= Manski/> In 2004, the Israeli Ministry of Health released [[Ben Gurion University]] research findings describing the health problems in a {{Convert|20|km|mi|abbr=on}} vicinity of Ramat Hovav. The study, funded in large part by Ramat Hovav, found higher rates of cancer and mortality for the 350,000 people in the area. Prematurely released to the media by an unknown source, the preliminary study was publicly discredited;<ref>{{cite web |first=Rebecca |last=Manski |url=http://www.bustan.org/subject.asp?id=25 |title=The Bedouin as Worker-Nomad |publisher=bustan.org |year=2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003220015/http://www.bustan.org/subject.asp?id=25 |archive-date=2011-10-03}}</ref> However, its final conclusions – that Bedouin and Jewish residents near Ramat Hovav are significantly more susceptible than the rest of the population to miscarriages, severe birth defects, and respiratory diseases – passed a peer review several months later.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bentov |first1=Yaakov |last2=Kordysh |first2=Ella |last3=Hershkovitz |first3=Reli |last4=Belmaker |first4=Ilana |last5=Polyakov |first5=Marina |last6=Bilenko |first6=Natasha |last7=Sarov |first7=Batia |title=Major congenital malformations and residential proximity to a regional industrial park including a national toxic waste site: An ecological study |journal=Environmental Health |date=December 2006 |volume=5 |issue=1 |page=8 |doi=10.1186/1476-069X-5-8 |doi-access=free |pmid=16571107 |pmc=1557491 |bibcode=2006EnvHe...5....8B }}</ref>