Public Housing Struggles as Israeli Law to Sell Units to Tenants Fails Before Knesset Dissolution

Just before the Israeli Knesset dissolved and following approval of an amnesty for draft evaders, a law that offered hope to thousands of long-term public housing residents was halted. This law would have allowed tenants who have lived for decades in public housing to purchase their apartments, a chance many have awaited for years. In the 1970s, public housing accounted for about 25% of Israeli apartments, but today it comprises less than 1%.

Originally, public housing in Israel was a national project to absorb new immigrants and settle peripheral regions like the Negev and Galilee, with the state owning entire neighborhoods and towns. However, due to rising costs, construction stopped in the 1980s, and the government launched a campaign to sell these apartments to tenants who could afford to buy them. Those unable to purchase remained in public housing, which gradually diminished.

In 1998, a law promoted by Knesset member Ran Cohen allowed children of tenants to buy their apartments at a discount, aiming to prevent the collapse of public housing. Yet 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%.

The article features Sigal Anania, who has waited years for an apartment, and Yaron Hoffman-Dishon, a housing policy researcher at the Adva Center, discussing the disappearance of public housing, government policy decisions, eligibility criteria, and the plight of families living in apartments they may never own. The piece raises questions about the future of public housing in Israel and the social implications of its decline.