The Israeli government has agreed to allocate $18.7 million to pave roads to nine schools in the Negev, serving eight recognized and five unrecognized Bedouin villages. Three children have been killed on these roads on their way to school in recent years. The roads are impassable during the winter rains, while blindingly dusty conditions make them deadly for most of the year.

The government decision followed a petition to the High Court of Justice by NIF grantees Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (Reform) and Adalah: Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel on behalf of Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights and SHATIL's Forum for Arab Education in the Negev.

 The dust track leading to the Babu Bedouin School in the Negev will now be paved.

Cesar Yeudkin of Bimkom, an organization in which volunteer architects and planners provide professional services on behalf of the disadvantaged, explained that the government decision was an important step forward. He said, "The government has given much of what we asked for but not everything. There are still three more schools which will not have proper access roads after these are completed and we will keep pressing until all Bedouin schools have paved roads."

This latest victory is part of NIF's campaign to win full government recognition of unrecognized villages, and ensure that all Bedouin villages have the same infrastructures and services as their Jewish neighbors.