Public Housing Crisis Deepens as Israeli Law to Sell Units to Tenants Fails

Just before the Israeli Knesset's dissolution and following approval of an amnesty for draft evaders, a key bill offering hope to thousands living in public housing was halted. This legislation would have allowed long-term public housing residents to purchase the apartments they have lived in for decades. In the 1970s, public housing accounted for about 25% of Israeli apartments, but today it comprises less than 1%.

Sigal Anania, who has waited years for a public housing unit, and Yaron Hoffman-Dishon, a housing policy researcher at the Adva Center, discussed the issue. Initially, public housing in Israel was a national project aimed at absorbing immigrants and settling the Negev and Galilee regions. However, due to high costs, construction stopped in the 1980s, and the government launched a campaign to sell public housing units to tenants who could afford to buy them. Those unable to purchase remained in public housing.

In 1998, a law promoted by MK Ran Cohen allowed tenants' children to buy their apartments at a discount, but this law was frozen 15 years ago and expired in 2023. Compared to Western countries where 5-20% of housing stock is public, Israel now has only about 1% public housing available. The article raises questions about when and why public housing disappeared in Israel, whether this was a deliberate government policy, how eligibility and long waits for apartments are managed, and the fate of children who grow up in apartments they cannot own.