Afoula Project Offers Discounted Apartments to Haredi Youth Avoiding Military Service

A new residential project in Afula is providing a significant discount on apartments to young Haredi men who are exempt from participating in the Israeli government's "Price for Residents" housing lottery due to their military service status. The project, named "Mitzpe Afula," is currently constructing buildings in Afula Illit for a Haredi community expected to include over 200 families. The developer, Yesodot Tzur, advertises a special grant of up to 180,000 shekels for Torah scholars, clarifying that this subsidy is funded entirely by the developer and not by the state.

The apartments offered are four-room units starting at 1.4 million shekels. The developer's representative explained that the discount effectively subsidizes the mortgage interest payments, enabling buyers to pay a monthly amount comparable to what they would pay for a cheaper three-room apartment in the periphery priced at about 1.2 million shekels. Eligibility for this benefit is verified during in-person sales meetings, where buyers must prove they are draft-eligible Haredi men who have not regularized their military service status.

This initiative comes after the Israeli Land Authority's May decision to bar Haredi men who have not fulfilled military service obligations from participating in the government's discounted housing program, following a Supreme Court ruling mandating economic sanctions on draft evaders. This policy also cancels other benefits such as public transportation discounts, reduced fees for after-school programs, property tax reductions, and rental assistance, cumulatively costing families thousands of shekels annually.

The loss of access to the "Price for Residents" program, which can be worth up to half a million shekels per family, has prompted creative solutions within the Haredi community, including private donations and now developer-funded housing discounts. Yesodot Tzur declined to comment further on the matter.