A plan to establish eleven "points" of Jewish settlement in the Negev was devised in order to assure a Jewish presence in the area prior to the partition of Palestine.[1] This followed the publication of the Morrison-Grady partition proposal, in which the Negev was to be part of an Arab state.[2] Together, the Jewish National Fund, the Jewish Agency, the Haganah and the Mekorot water company launched a drive to settle the Negev and hopefully have the Negev included as part of a Jewish state.[2]