77 local authorities, 25 under regional Jewish-Israeli authorities, and 2 are part of Jewish-Israeli local authorities.30 The other 10% of the population reside in several mixed cities, primary Haifa, Acre, Lydd, Ramleh and Jaffa. Over the years, Palestinian localities transformed from a rural to urban characteristics, without any overarching strategy. Most of these localities lack proper planning procedures and the needs of their populations in terms of housing, infrastructure, allocation of land and development are not met. However, the central government in many instances promotes and develops the Jewish-Israeli localities through various means.31 Palestinian localities in Israel face several obstacles: • • • Institutional obstacles, causing to absence of planning or insufficient planning, the case in most of the Palestinian localities; Planning obstacles, by which development plans are being postponed or rejected; Jurisdictional-bureaucratic obstacles, which prevent the implementations of approved plans for the development of Palestinian localities.32 Institutional Obstacles Israel’s ethnocratic33 nature has a large effect on the representation of nonJewish communities, as planning institutions are being given the authority to decide on allocations of various public sources ranging between dispersion of land, which constitute the main material basis for any planning and building initiatives, to allocation of budgets, and above all the power to decide on such topics.34 Israeli policies attempt to weaken the Palestinian citizens through segmentation, denial of most collective cultural or political rights, and pervasive material deprivation.35 This denial of recognition is manifested in the denial of representation of Palestinian citizens of Israel in the planning system in Israel.36 Planning in Israel is highly centralized, and state planners fail to include the Palestinian population in decision-making and in developing the Master Plans that govern zoning, construction, and development in Israel.37 30 BIMKOM – Planners for Planning Rights and ACAP -The Arab Center for Alternative Planning, “Outline Planning for Arab Localities in Israel.” 31 Ibid. 32 Nasser, Severe Housing Distress and Destruction of Arab Homes: Obstacles and Recommendations for Change, 11. 33 Oren Yiftachel, Interview at the Ben-Gurion University. 34 Adequate Representation for Arab Citizens in Planning and Building Institutions. 35 Oren Yiftachel, “Palestinian Arab Citizenship in Israel.” 36 Hamdan, “The Status of the Palestinian Minority in the Israeli Planning System.” 37 “Off the Map: Land and Housing Rights Violations in Israel’s Unrecognized Bedouin Villages.” 16