The story of the man who competed with the airport authority and lost everything

Itzik Kalkoda turned the milking cows of the family estate in Kfar Truman into a "milking cow" of cash that made him a rich man, but annoyed the authorities of the airports and Israel's lands.

A story about the man who went into debt, got rich and lost everything.

Now they are threatening to evict him from the house as well

Liat Ron

09/28/2022

Wednesday, September 28, 2022, 09:55 Updated: Thursday, September 29, 2022, 11:24

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Parking lots are full in Israel. The demand for parking near the airport provided Itzik Kalkoda with an excellent business opportunity, only an illegal one (Photo: Reuven Castro)

We have already heard many times heartbreaking stories on the one hand and inspiring on the other, about farmers who were fed up with the impossible war of survival, came to Petah Lehm and decided to convert the crops of the field and the animals into hospitality businesses, tourism, restaurants, operation of attractions, events and parties (in contrast: even to alternative cemeteries) - Anything that can support them with dignity.

As long as this is done in agreement with the cooperative society, with approval and modesty, the Israel Land Authority (RMI), which leases the properties, allows the operation of businesses even if they go beyond the original designation of the land.

When farmers like Itzik Kalkoda, do it in a big way, shouts, pecks Eyes and straight from the jump, and along the way waking up old bears like the Airports Authority, RMI goes against them to the end and in all courts.

Kalkoda, the entrepreneur of "park and fly", who also founded an empire that included huge warehouses and B&Bs on two estates in Kfar Truman,

These days, after the Supreme Court rejected his petition against the eviction, his daughters, who live with him, submitted their own petition against the eviction.

Does Kalkoda, who claims to be disabled and sick, deserve compassion, even after he blatantly violated the law repeatedly, and whistled over decisive rulings?

Judge for yourself.

Itzik Kalkoda in more smiling days.

Ignoring compliance with court orders did not pay off (Photo: Private)

A milking cow

The story unfolds from 1992. The reform in the dairy industry came into effect, shook the market and as a result, the "Kalkodim", two generations of dairy farmers from Kfar Truman, entered into financial difficulties, had to sell the milk quota, the herd of cows and the milking equipment - and were left with a debt of five million shekels.

Kalkoda the son and grandson, a brilliant entrepreneur by all accounts, decided to take action and turned the vacant lot into a different kind of milk cow.

"Since the Germans deported him from Romania and put him in a concentration and extermination camp," Kalkoda explains his side of the story, "Father received an estate in Kfar Truman, and grandparents also received another estate. Father had the largest barn in the country and a dairy for cheese production. But the state did not want barns in the center that would pollute the The groundwater and they forced us to close them. We were left with nothing. I lived with my father on my grandparents' property, with a debt of five million shekels.

"We thought about how to make money from the location in the center. We set up warehouses and because of the proximity to the airport, I came up with the idea of ​​setting up a 'park and fly' parking lot. People would park their cars with us and I would drive them back and forth to the field. The airport authority didn't like having their monopoly broken. They put me on to criminal law and I paid a fine of two and a half million shekels."

The central question at the center of this convoluted saga, the continuation of which we will immediately bring, is what is the fate of a member of the Moshav who for years exploited the agricultural land owned by the state and its low price, illegally, and this after he signed a commitment that it would be used exclusively for agriculture and residences.

The law states that in case of violation of the terms of the lease, the owner has the right to get the land back, without payment of compensation to the association or any of its members.

As the years went by, business picked up speed.

Apart from the two estates, which became a very profitable business, Kalkoda purchased an area in the extension of the moshav and the extended family moved there.

So not only did they not engage in agriculture in the estates, they did not even live in their territory.

"Throughout all the years, I paid full taxes and employed 40 workers," accepts Kalkoda, "but my business upset people, because it took a living for the airport authority, so they decided to close it for me."

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Violations left debts.

The new tenants, on the other hand, brought in good money (Photo: ShutterStock)

The breached compromise

In 2002, an indictment was filed against Yitzhak, his wife Amalia and his father Herman for construction without a permit and illegal uses other than agriculture.

The parties reached a compromise according to which the extraneous uses will be removed from the area and the owners and sub-tenants will be evicted.

In July of that year, the court accepted the plea deal signed between the parties - the members of the Kalkoda family would vacate the area and Rami would transfer the estates in their name.

At this point, everything could have still ended relatively well, but the family was in no hurry to obey the verdict and continued to rent the warehouses and the B&Bs for new tenants. After several notices, Rami, in 2007, applied to the Enforcement Bureau to implement the court's decision.

The request was rejected, on the grounds that the tenants were not the ones who appeared in the judgment and Kalkoda received sharp criticism in advance from the enforcement office for his fraudulent conduct.

The farmers from Kfar Truman celebrated the victory and continued on their own, but then a triple indictment was filed against them for operating the parking lot in an area of ​​thousands of square meters on state land, operating B&Bs in wooden buildings for daily accommodation, using containers made of blocks and trailers for storage purposes, operating catering and much more.

All of this on the grounds of knowingly and intentionally violating the judicial orders issued against him in 2006.

Another six years passed, during which the cash register hit hard in the code business and in 2012 the state submitted an order to stop the illegal commercial use.

Kalkoda did not panic and filed an appeal to the Supreme Court.

The judges rejected him outright.

In 2013, he was convicted on the basis of his admission of the offenses of prohibited use of the land and non-compliance with judicial orders and an order was issued prohibiting the use and cessation of sweeping activities on the property, while evacuating or demolishing the B&Bs, buildings, containers, trailers, bins, in short - the entire commercial center he built there.

In addition, he was fined 24 million shekels, depositing a bank guarantee, a suspended prison sentence, and it was also determined that he must vacate the estates and return them to Rami. Kalkoda, for his part, appealed the amount of the fine, and it was reduced to only seven million shekels.

Israel. Kalkoda's parking services have become in demand. The state, to say the least, was not enthusiastic (Photo: ShutterStock)

The move to Lod

"Because I was kicked out of Kfar Truman, I moved to Lod. My venture was perfected. My representative would meet the passengers in the field, take the car to the parking lot in Lod and wait for them upon landing, such great services. People liked it very much and it upset people at the airport authority."

"Because the airport authority claimed that I operate from the field and that I need to get permission from them to pick up passengers, in order to maintain their monopoly. In 2019 I also had to close the business in Lod. Immediately after that they tried to establish a business identical to mine, which managed to survive a year and was closed. There are five businesses like mine, with the approval of the Airport Authority, but nothing is being done to them. When we appealed to the Supreme Court, we only appealed the amount, because there is no precedent for eviction of estates, what's more, the two estates are not registered in my name."

"The point is that I lived in an extension, because because of loans I took on the gray market, grenades were thrown at my house and I had to leave there so as not to endanger the girls, and they stayed to live in the farms. We appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court and tried to show that there is no farmer who has two farms, certainly when no one Some of them are not in my name, so it is impossible to expropriate both of them. It turned out to me that Rami registered them in my name on their own accord and without getting permission, and that's how they can take them from me.

The Supreme Court did not agree to discuss the issue with a panel of seven judges and rejected the appeal."

"I am a simple 56-year-old resident, an oncologist, who passed A stroke, I have 100% disability and I have three amazing daughters and an amazing wife who survives life with me and she was also sued in all these lawsuits.

I have had a bladder tumor since 2013 and have undergone ten difficult surgeries."

"Attorney Shuki Horesh, who represents me, says that even a sex offender is not put in prison and castrated.

I committed a financial offense and paid a fine for it.

There are another 100,000 squatters like me who misuse the land and nothing is done to them.

On the one hand, farmers are told to import from abroad and kill their businesses, and on the other hand, they are not allowed to make a living."

"In 2013 I closed everything and became legal. I sold the house I lived in to pay the fines."

A foot and a half in the grave

where do you live now?

"In the parents' property with my daughters, who are now conducting proceedings against Rami to stop their eviction from the house where they were born.

One of them is a civil servant and she wants to leave the position because she is so frustrated, and the second daughter is married with a baby.

How can you do this to them?".

"I have one and a half feet in the grave, why should I be protected? Look at the absurdity. We pay rent for the estates and they are not ours. This is not like a house in an extension that is registered in the taboo. At any moment you can be taken out of there, as happened to my parents in Romania with the Nazis. I You see how all the tenants of my warehouses moved to Kfar Qasim, why? Because it is allowed there, because Mansur Abbas is in the government.

"I live on National Insurance and disability. They took my house and money, my wife is a teacher and that's what we live on. I had a signed contract to build a solar farm on the roof that I can't do anything with and I have 6,000 meters of empty warehouses because it's not all mine."

"The Supreme Court's ruling came out a year ago and they still haven't issued an execution order, probably because of the girls' trial. I'm ready to get out of here, the main thing is that they don't take the girls out. We're not a crime family. I've been a Moshavnik all my life working in a dairy farm. If you ask my clients in 'Honim Fly', they will say, Itzik, what an honest man."

"Ask any of my customers in the parking lot. If I take a car, I return it. Abnormal use of land is white collar. I made a mistake and paid seven million shekels for it. You can leave it to me."

:

"We are talking about two estates in a common area of ​​about 44 dunams in Moshav Kfar Truman near Israel, which are held by the Kalkoda couple, who used them for commercial purposes, including B&Bs and a long-term parking lot for flights abroad while taking advantage of their proximity to Israel.

"As stated in the district ruling, "the defendants 'bounced' on the provisions of the law, on court decisions, on the decisions of the Israel Lands Council, and on the provisions of the Mashbat agreement." Therefore, the state's claim to return the estates and pay user fees was accepted, and the Supreme Court confirmed this determination and also rejected the request For further discussion.

"After the verdicts against the parents, their daughters filed a lawsuit to get their own independent right in the estates and the lawsuit is still being discussed.

The state believes that the girls' lawsuit was filed against the law and against the ruling of the Supreme Court, and therefore a request was filed for dismissal outright."

At the same time, the state initiated the Hotalp procedure to collect the user fees and soon procedures will be taken to return the estates in accordance with the court rulings.

• Of money

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• National Highway

• rummy

• Israel Lands Authority

• Airport Authority

• Kfar Truman