Public Housing in Israel 2012
Photos by: shiraz Grinbaum, Yotam Ronen, Keren Manor, Oren Ziv
A sealing of an apartment owned by the Public Housing company “Amidar”, following a forceful eviction of a family. The sign, which was put up by protestors against the evacuation reads: “The people demand for Public Housing”, the city of Yavne, Israel, January 23, 2012.
Rachel Tayeb. Tel Aviv.
Rachel was born and has lived for most of her life in Hatikva neighborhood. Twelve years ago she took part in the single mothers’ struggle, and lived in tents. As a result of the struggle, she was given an apartment in Arad, and was then moved to Dimona. She had to leave Dimona because of health issues caused by the climate in the area. The apartment was returned to Amidar, and she was told that if she were to live in Tel Aviv for three years, she would get an Amidar apartment in the city. She has been waiting eleven years. In the meantime, her son has grown up, and she no longer meets the criteria for public housing. During the tent protest, she lived in the Hatikva Park. When she was evacuated from there, she received a cheque for 5000NIS. Today, she receives support of just 740 NIS. She has no solution for her housing problem.
Poly Ben Ami. Holon.
Poly, mother of three, has lived in a tent in the Kiriat Sharet neighborhood of Holon since the summer of 2011. Poly lived in the tent encampment with Mazal, her disabled mother, who recently was allocated a one room Amidar apartment. Poly has met all the required criteria for eligibility for public housing for the past 5 years. She suffers from emotional disability, which is recognized, and prevents her from working. Her three children suffer from physical and emotional distress, as a result of being homeless. Poly is managing a Sisyphean struggle to implement her right to give her children and herself basic humane living conditions.
Ashira Cohen. Jerusalem.
Ashira, 65, has many serious health problems and lives with her son in a small two-roomed flat, on the fourth floor of an Amidar building in the Jerusalem’s Katamon neighborhood. Recently, she and her son were evicted from the apartment, under the pretext this was necessary in order to carry out extensive plumbing work in the building. Amidar’s representatives even received back up from the Jerusalem police, who forcibly removed the two from their apartment into the street, for two weeks. They returned to the apartment to find that their possessions had been returned damaged and the apartment had not been renovated.
Peri Danilov. Hadera.
Peri, almost totally blind, lived until May 2012 in an Amidar apartment that belonged to her partner who passed away. To her surprise, the apartment was cleared out last May while she was at the nearby club for the blind. The official reason for her eviction is a debt made up of interest accumulated on an allowance made to her for absorption when she made Aliya during the 90s. Peri was evicted without prior warning, and was forced, for this reason, to rent an apartment which she cannot afford. She lives off a NIS allowance of 2200NIS.
Walid and Afifa Savala. Jaffa.
The couple lives in a public housing building for the past 28 years. The Apartment has plumbing problems and suffers from damp due to rain. There are leaks in the kitchen, and the ceiling is covered with mildew. Owing to the fact that Halamish Company refuses to fix the building, they have had to spend thousands of shekels on repairs. Only a few weeks passed from the last repair, but already there are new signs of damp. It is nine years since Halamish Company has carried out any reasonable repairs in the building.
Reuven Abergil. Jerusalem.
Reuven, one of the leaders of the Black Panthers movement, icon of the Israeli left, and the Mizrahi (Jews from the Eastern world) struggle, now one of the leading activist of Tarabut–Hithabrut (an Arab-Jewish movement for social and political change). Reuven lives in a one-room Amidar apartment. Over the years, Reuven has been threatened with eviction orders, as a result of debts which Amidar claim are his. Reuven is one of the prominent figures in the national social struggle for the re-establishment of the public housing mechanism, which promises a roof over every person’s head.
Avivit Amsalem. Be’er Sheva.
A 24 years old single mother of three, aged seven, five and a year and a half. Avivit got married at sixteen after falling pregnant to her former husband, an unemployed person from a difficult socio-economic background. After two years, during which she suffered from a great deal of both violence and financial distress, she divorced and left the house with her two children. Sometimes she slept in hallways with her kids. Amidar refuses to recognise her eligibility for public housing as the number of family members in not in line with their criteria. As a result of debts she now faces bankruptcy. For the past year and a half, Avivit has lived in an Amidar apartment which she entered illegally, and is still trying to obtain a certificate of eligibility for housing.
Itzik Atia
Disabled and confined to a wheelchair. Injured in a work accident, after which he was fired from his job. Following his dismissal, he worked as a security guard for some time until his health deteriorated owing to the injury. Due to his divorce from his first wife, he became homeless, lived in the street for 3 years and then for a year with his parents. For some unclear reason, disability pension from the National Insurance Institute (NII) is denied from him. He now lives with his present wife, who earns 2200NIS a month and her daughter in their Amidar apartment. The apartment is small, cramped and poorly maintained. Itzik is unable to move around it in his wheelchair, but Amidar is unwilling to make changes in the apartment or to re-house the family to a more suitable place. In addition, they are in danger of being evicted because of a debt to Amidar. Desperation has led Itzik to threaten suicide, and because of this, Itzik’s elderly mother has had to move in with family.
Etti Chen Zaken. Jerusalem.
Etti is a single parent to a four years old boy, and is recognized for disability allowance from the National Insurance Institute due to her medical condition. Etti doesn't meet the required criteria for Amidar housing or for rental assistance. She lives on 3000NIS per month – which includes her salary - but owing to multiple stipends, she is not entitled to alimony payments. At present, she receives rental aid under the agreement ,that was signed with the Jerusalem Municipality, but this agreement is scheduled to expire at the end of August 2012. Stopping these payments is likely to drive Etti, and her son back to the streets.
Esther Moses. Lod.
Esther has lived all her life in an Amidar apartment in the Ramat Eshkol district of Lod. The apartment, which belonged to her parents who died 20 years ago, was transferred into her name. Last March, she was served an eviction order under the pretext that she wasn’t living in the apartment. She was charged 1300NIS for eviction order that had been served to her. Today she is fighting to reclaim the apartment, as stated by law, as the rightful beneficiary.
Haim Berkovitz. Be’er Sheva.
Haim lives with his wife and their four children in a small apartment, which they took illegal possession of, three and a half years ago. Since 2002, they were recognized as eligible for public housing, and receives financial support for rental payment. After six years of living in rented accommodation, and as a result of a hike in the rent, the family decided to illegally take possession of an abandoned house and make it livable. Today, following a long struggle, and a string of eviction orders, Amidar has agreed to let them stay on this property, but claims that some parts have been renovated in an illegal fashion and will have to be demolished.
Dorit Azulai. Lod.
Dorit suffers from PTSD (Post-trauma stress disorder) as a result of the Gulf War and the Second Lebanon War. Her disability has been recoginsed as 100% inability to work that is accompanied with 76% health disability. Owing to her poor emotional state, she went through a divorce and lost her home. During the Second Lebanon War, she moved to Lod in an effort to reduce the emotional trauma that she had been through. Although recognized as eligible for public housing three and a half years ago, all her requests to return to the north in order to be close to her children and grandchildren have been rejected outright. At the moment she is staying in very poorly maintained accommodation, which severely affects her medical condition. The following response to her requests was received from Amidar: ”There is a shortage of housing in the requested districts and no reason is found to diverge from regulations”.
Hezi Samak. Jerusalem.
Hezi is a rightful beneficiary to an apartment inhabited by his father, who died in 2008. A few month after his father's death Hezi was served with an evacuation order from Amidar, without being summoned to court. He managed to get the evacuation order retracted but was required by the company to submit an application form to the exceptions committee. Despite his case still being under examination, the company sent representatives who cleared out his belongings and put them into storage, blocking the entry to the apartment by means of a security guard. Hezi slept outside his apartment on a mattress for several days, until he managed to get back inside. After negotiations with the company, his belongings were returned to him. Hezi is asking to stay in the apartment as the rightful beneficiary, as stated by the law. His former wife and their three children live in the area and are helping him in his rehabilitation following treatment for his drug dependence.
Avi and Miriam Shauline. Jerusalem.
The Shaulines have lived in their apartment in central Jerusalem for 17 years, adjacent to that of Avi’s parents’ who require constant assistance for daily living. One day, they were surprised to learn that a two high-rise tower development was being planned for the site by the Ampa Malibu Company who wanted to evacuate the residents as soon as possible. The issue was brought to court, forcing the couple to put all their savings into the hands of private lawyers. Before the court’s decision, contractors from the company arrived and blocked up the entrances to both of the apartments. Evidently, The Jerusalem Municipality had approved works on the site even before the company had come to an appropriate agreement with the residents. The couple tried to resist the enforced evacuation, and called the police, who did not help them at all. Miriam was left outside with the children, while Avi was arrested for disrupting the bulldozer’s work. Today, both of the apartments are boarded up, and cannot be entered. The families have been forced to move to another apartment without any financial compensation whatsoever. The case is still pending in the district court.
Benny Ben Avraham
Eligible for public housing. When he divorced from his wife in the 80s he left the public housing apartment where they had lived, to his wife and children. Following the divorce, lived in a tent encampment for the homeless for four and a half years. Since the evacuation of the encampment, Benny has been on the list for public housing. Today he exists by staying with friends or with his ex wife. His involvement through the years in the struggle for public housing, has led him to be investigated under caution by the police.
The Elajo Family
The Elajo Family was first evicted from their apartment in Lod in 1948, and tried to escape to Jordan in order to request asylum. The Israeli forces prevented them from reaching their destination, and sent them back, but the town of Lod had been surrounded by barbed wire. The family ended up in nearby Ramle. In 1960, the father of the family signed a renting lease with the Development Authority, that manages the state assets, some of which had been confiscated and stolen from Palestinian families under the Absentee Property Law. The contract included a two roomed house and a small plot of land in Ramle, where the family of fourteen children had grown up. Over the years, the family had great difficulty in rehabilitation itself financially, and started using sheds and store rooms as living areas. No building permits were issued, and today the 84 year old Abed Alrazek, the head of the family, has an eviction order hanging over his head. This is not the first eviction order for the family. Every few months, Amidar sends eviction orders which are valid for various periods of time. In this framework , representatives of the company can come with police backup to throw the family out into the streets and to seal up the house as was done in the past. Over the years, the house has become a symbol of resistance to the government policy, who tries to destroy the existence of the mixed towns throughout Israel, to continue the expropriation of the 1948 Arab population, and prevent real housing solutions from the weaker populations.
Noga and Sureen Stern and their 8 children. Pardes Hanna.
After failing to keep up with their mortgage payments some years ago, the family was evicted from their apartment. In 2008 they were recognized as eligible for public housing but received no solution to their problem. In protest, they set up a camp outside the offices of the Local Council of Pardes Hanna-Karkur, where they remained for several months until they were sent to live in a 54 square meter Amidar apartment. They were told that this is a “temporary” solution until they could be moved into an apartment suited to the family. It has been four and a half years wait in this apartment, which apart from its very small size, is old and poorly maintained. The family is waiting now for a larger ground-floor apartment which was promised to them a year and a half ago. According to the Ministry of Housing, the apartment is undergoing renovations, but for the time being the family has not been give a date for their re-housing.
Michal Reuveni. Ramat Gan.
At 18, just married and with a baby, Michal and her husband took illegal possession of an apartment belonging to Ramat Gan Municipality. Because of continuing aggression by her husband, Michal divorced after a short time and remained in the apartment. When she applied to Ramat Gan Municipality in an effort to either buy or come to a rental agreement, she was refused outrightly. She suffered violent eviction by a large force of police. Following the eviction, she went to live with her mother for a short time. She signed a rental agreement only after receiving a promise of financial rental assistance from The Ramat Gan Municipality, but the promise was never implemented. The maintenance allowance that she receives from the NII, prevents her from working and earning her living, as the NII regulations stipulates that if she earns more than 560 NIS, she will be denied the maintenance allowance.
Ovadia Ben Avraham
Public housing struggle activist for dozens of years. In the past, employed as a carer of the elderly, but following a road traffic accident, he was declared unfit and dismissed from his job. The NII refused to recognize his handicap for years, or to pay him a disability benefit, until finally he received the recognition. After marrying and moving in with his wife, a public housing resident, he began to pay 2000NIS per month for her apartment and for debts that she had incurred. Together, they were unable to pay the debts, and a further blow hit them recently when the amount Ovadia’s NII allowance was reduced. As a result of the debt, Amidar threatened to evict them from the apartment. Only following close investigation of their debt, it came to light that Amidar’s claims were incorrect, and the debt was reduced to half of the original sum. Ovadia and his wife struggle every month to keep up with the payments.
Galit Levi.
A single mother of three living on a disability allowance and on maintenance payments, recognized as disabled by the NII. Applied for public housing and rejected. In the process of appealing this decision, and has recommendation from her social worker to recognize her eligibility. Galit has considered many times taking illegal possession of an apartment but has avoided doing this for fear that her children would suffer as a result.
Hanna Sebag. Rehovot.
Hanna, who is 66 years old, lives in an Amidar apartment in the Kiriat Moshe neighborhood of Rehovot, which she received following her divorce in the 70s. The apartment is on the fourth floor, with no elevator, and no electricity in the hallway. As a young woman, Hanna lost her sight, and for most of the years subsisted on a disability allowance. Hanna has made countless applications for an apartment on a lower floor, to which she is entitled by virtue of her medical condition, but for 19 years she has been rejected. She has been offered a smaller in Ness Tziona which she describes as unfit to live in. She suffers from anxiety thus finding it difficult to be alone at home. For a time, her 2 granddaughters lived with her in order to ease her situation. When Amidar found out about this, the rented was immediately raised to 600NIS per month, and only after great efforts did Hanna manage to get this sum reverted to the original 150NIS per month. Today Hanna lives without assistance from her children.
Zahava Greenfeld. Pardes Katz.
Zahava, a single mother, resident of Amidar housing in the Pardes Katz neighborhood, one of the founders leading activists for public housing in Israel, and possibly the most well known face of the campaign. For years, Zehava struggled alone against Amidar’s bureaucrats, who assigned her enormous debts amounting to tens of thousands of shekels, and as a result of which she was served an eviction order from her apartment. In April 2011, two months before the social protest erupted, Zahava, and a small group of activists from the Hithabrut-Tarabut movement start to travel around the country to find other victims of public housing, and to get them to join the struggle. Quickly, Zehava emerged as the outstanding spokeswoman for a determined group of women from the weaker classes, which began to turn into the “no choice” protest of the summer of 2011.Through the struggle for public housing, Zehava met activists from other spheres, and began to join the popular demonstrations against the occupation in the villages of the West Bank. Last June, with the help of friends from the struggle, Zehava managed to have the eviction order cancelled, and to come to a reasonable agreement with Amidar for paying off her debts.
Yehezkel Salman. Jaffa.
Yehezkel's house was demolished three and a half years ago. He and his mother lived there for 25 years until his mother's death. Following her death, Amidar started legal proceedings against him, proceedings which ended with Yehezkel losing his right for public housing, and the demolition of the house. Today, Yehezkel is homeless, and the demolished area stands empty and unused.
Rachel Levi. Yavneh.
In January 2012, Rachel and her only daughter were evicted from their Amidar apartment, in which she was born and had lived all her life. Following her mother’s death, Rachel fought for the right to be recognized by Amidar and The Housing Ministry as the rightful beneficiary of the apartment. Without her prior knowledge, the defense counsel for the State agreed that she would willingly vacate the apartment. After a long struggle, involving entrenchment in the flat with activists, several attempts by Amidar to evict her were prevented, until finally, last winter Rachel was kicked out into the street. Today, Rachel is a central figure in the public housing struggle. She and her daughter continue to wander between friends and family.
Meital Cohen. Tel Aviv.
Meital, her six children and her father, live in a 70 square meter Amidar apartment in the Hatikva neighborhood. There is no elevator and the apartment is in a disgraceful condition. The family’s possessions and the furniture are often ruined because of leakages and the damp. As a result of very poor maintenance of the apartment, and because of her father’s bad health, Meital has made countless applications to be moved but has been rejected outright. In addition, it has been made clear to her, that should she decide to rent an apartment on the private market until such time that a suitable apartment is found for the family, she will immediately be deprived of her right to public housing.
Itzik and Lily Menashe. Givat Shmuel.
Itzik's mother was an Amidar resident all her life. Itzik has lived with her since he was fifteen. Some years ago, Lily underwent fertility treatment. After five years of unsuccessful attempts to become pregnant, and in line with the doctor's and psychologist's recommendations Itzik and Lilly rented a separate apartment. Six months later, when Lily was pregnant, they moved back in with Itzik's mother. A few days after Itzik's mother's death, instead of a condolence letter, Itzik and Lilly received a summons to court. Amidar claimed that the couple did not reside permanently in the apartment, and thus have no right to stay there. The court ruled in favor of Amidar. The eviction order stands, but has been restrained until the end of the year.
Mikki Azoulai. Hatikva neighborhood, Tel Aviv.
Mikky has been eligible for public housing for some years. She is ready to live anywhere in the county, but Halamish Company refuses to offer her a solution. In the past, she lived in Bet She‘an but the condition of the apartment was intolerable. Later she received rent assistance of 900NIS per month which has recently been increased. Today she rents a flat, in which her five children share a single room. Mikki tries constantly to get in touch with the Halamish company's offices to try and reach a solution, to no avail.
Johnny and Samira Jambazian. Jaffa.
Johnny and Samira have been living with protected tenancy for thirty years in a Halamish apartment. A debt of 450 NIS that began as an error in transferring the monthly rental money by standing order, has blown up to thousands of shekels. Halamish started legal proceedings and issued an eviction order. Johnny and Samira, managed to raise the necessary amount of cash, but when of Johnny got to the Halamish offices to pay the debt, he was informed that, because of the interest and the inflation, and the cost of the legal proceedings, the current debt was 13,500 NIS. Johnny collapsed in the Halamish offices. Today the couple are still living in the apartment, even though it is unsuitable for Johnny’s medical condition.
Dolly Yitzhakian. Jaffa.
Dolly lives in a Halamish apartment for 21 years, and living on a supplementary benefit of 4000NIS. All of her six children are still living at home. Three years ago, while the family were in their Succah during the holidays, a fire broke out in the apartment due to an electric short-circuit. The apartment burned down and the family’s possession was destroyed. Halamish repainted the apartment, but the bathroom, the kitchen, the windows and the doors remained in a terrible state. Dolly paid for repairs herself to enable the family to move back in. Dolly stopped the standing orders relevant to the apartment until she receives compensation for her outlay for the repairs, but so far has received nothing, except continuous threat from the payment office.
Sami and Samira Kadi. Jaffa.
Sami and Samira live in a three roomed neglected and decaying apartment, where Sami’s parents lived. Sami is the legal beneficiary of the apartment. In 1991, he was the leader of the homeless’ tent protest. After his marriage, the couple lived in a rented accommodation, but financial hardship led them back to his parents. When his mother died, Halamish issued a court summons, which was not sent to them as required by law. The court decided in their absence that they are not recognized as the rightful beneficiaries, and that they would have to leave the apartment. After lengthy legal proceedings, they received recognition as the rightful beneficiaries and the debt which the company had attributed to them was slashed from hundreds of thousands of shekels to 5000 shekels. Despite the legal victory, in the new contract drawn up by the Halamish Company, they had to commit themselves to pay 93,000NIS, and only then would the amount be reassessed. Sami refuses to sign the contract without knowing the amount that he will have to pay monthly, thus he is considered an intruder in his own home.
Public housing solutions are provided by the state and are rented for citizens that are unable to afford a ruff over their heads in the free market. In the last few decades the system of Public Housing in Israel has gone down a fast deteriorating process of depletion and privatization. As a result apartment inventory has gone down by 75% which in turn lead to the hardening of criteria for entitlement and long waiting lists. In addition most of the apartments are poorly maintained, and/or unfitting to their tenants' medical needs. The apartments are run by government and municipal companies that sometimes attach unexplained debts to the tenants, most of them leading to evacuation, with no other housing solution at hand.
The late Moshe Silman burned himself to death at a social justice demonstration that took place on July 14, 2012, in protest of his housing problems. In his suicide letter he elucidated his act by announcing: "I will not by homeless", and blamed the state for years of neglect and abuse. The mainstream media approach to his act was to embrace the government and prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu's motto claiming that "this was a personal tragedy". We, the Activestills Collective together with the "Public Housing Forum", went out to show that this is a "national tragedy" by photographing over 40 families from different cities across the country, which we found to be the "tip of the iceberg". In a worrisome economic roll down that Israel is facing, these are the people that are first to pay the price for the deliberate abolishment of welfare policies.