Land Purchase
The land purchases in the Negev were made by the Jewish National Fund (JNF), operating as the Tzukerman Office, a private real estate company secretly affiliated with the JNF. If required to purchase land from Arabs (after 1940), the office would recruit Arabs who had allied themselves with the Yishuv, to circumvent the British ban. The land was mostly purchased from Negev Bedouin, who were usually not nationalistically motivated and more interested in the financial aspect. The JNF also set out to buy Jewish-owned land in the region, which was mostly unused. In 1936, this totalled 41,000 dunams (41 km2). Another policy was to consolidate the lands as much as possible and buy adjacent lots, in order to be able to settle the land later.
In 1943, Weitz ordered Yoav Tzukerman to buy lands near Rafah/Khan Younis, in Wadi Shiniq (HaBesor Stream), and near 'Asluj and Beersheba. Lands were bought, but at the time the Bedouins in the area were enjoying relative prosperity and were less willing to sell. This significantly hurt the settlement plan for Gvulot, which called for the purchase of 5,000–6,000 dunams (5–6 km2).
Read more about this topic: Three Lookouts, History
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