For the first time, an official camel race was held in Israel’s Negev Desert on Friday, marking a transition from years of unregulated races.
Organized by the local Bedouin community in partnership with the Ramat HaNegev Regional Council, Diaspora Affairs Ministry, Agriculture Ministry and the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and Galilee, the race featured 40 camels competing along a designated course equipped with rest areas, large viewing tents and medical stations.
Israel holds first state-sponsored camel race in Negev desert
(Video: Danny Schchtman, Oren Alon )
Thirty young camels ran a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) circular route, while older camels completed a 12-kilometer (7.4-mile) course. Large screens streamed the event with live commentary in Arabic and Hebrew, enhancing the experience for spectators from across the region.
“Each year, several unofficial races are held in military zones, which pose risks to riders, let alone the bad name it gives the entire community,” explained Dr. Mazen Abu Siam, a veterinarian from Rahat overseeing the event. “This is the first state-sanctioned race, with almost every Bedouin tribe, from north to south, participating.
“Each tribe has several camels participating and the race is open to everyone for a fee. There are large viewing tents where you can watch the race on large screens and with commentary. Culturally, the camel is an animal for riding and racing. It’s not an animal we domesticate to do something it doesn’t want to do. For thousands of years, this is what the animal has done.”
Community leaders hailed the event as an opportunity to foster Bedouin heritage and build connections. “Formalizing camel races transforms them from a public nuisance to a cultural and tourism asset,” said Eran Doron, head of the Ramat HaNegev Regional Council, noting that the races had previously symbolized a lack of governance in the region.
Rahat Mayor Talai al-Kirnawi also highlighted the race’s role in preserving Bedouin heritage and expressed hopes to expand camel racing into an internationally recognized sport, with plans to build facilities for future camel and horse racing events.
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