Why tree planting in the Negev sparked protests, riots and a coalition crisis In JNF forests, Bedouin see ‘soft expulsion,’ environmentalists see a key ecological interest, and right-wing politicians see a weapon against ‘illegal squatters’ The slender saplings, placed into soil churned up by tractors, seem far too innocuous to spark a coalition crisis. But where and how they’re planted turns out to matter on a national scale. The Jewish National Fund, a quasi-governmental body that oversees 13 percent of Israel’s land, began several days of planting trees on disputed land in the Negev on Sunday. The response was immediate: protests by Bedouin residents that escalated into clashes. [Read More](https://www.timesofisrael.com/why-tree-planting-in-the-negev-sparked-protests-riots-and-a-coalition-crisis/)