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"Every family has dressed up in a neighborhood - and we pay": behind the protection mechanism in Be'er Sheva

In the shadow of the construction boom in the city, contractors are complaining about the organized conduct of crime families charging money for "guard services."

They describe takeover and division according to regions and criticize the lack of enforcement.

"I pay NIS 6,000 a month so that they do not cause damage."

Third article in the series

Tags

• Protection

• Beer Sheva

• Protection money

Yanir will defend

Monday, 28 June 2021, 12:38 Updated: 12:44

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The city of Be'er Sheva has been under tremendous construction momentum in recent years, and alongside this trend, city contractors are complaining about the organized conduct of crime families charging protection for "guarding" services, which are part of the sponsorship fee phenomenon in the south.

As soon as work begins on new structures, local contractors describe how various factors identified with familiar families come to the site, demanding payment in threats.

C. is a contractor with projects in the city of Beer Sheva, one of which was built in one of the well-known neighborhoods in the city.

He describes in harsh words the reality that everyone is aware of: "Already on the first day, when you start working on the site, they come physically or call and say 'this is our territory and you have to pay guard'. This is the first call and you pay, like everyone else."

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"Today it's about 'saving,' tomorrow it's about other profits."

A construction site where sponsorship fees are collected in the WC (Photo: Yanir Yagna)

"I pay NIS 6,000 a month. There is no guard in the compound, but you are afraid that if you do not pay, he will harm you," describes C.

According to him, the collection of sponsorship fees in the city is divided in an organized manner into areas, with each family controlling one of them.

"They divide the construction sites in Be'er Sheva according to areas and families. In one of the neighborhoods I built, one family charges a maintenance fee, and in the Park neighborhood it is another family. And there are other neighborhoods in Be'er Sheva where other families charge."

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In the video: A contractor from the south talks about the fact that he had to pay sponsorship fees (Photo: Shai Makhlouf)

C. describes that some contractors were required to pay two families due to a dispute between them over control of territories.

"Contractors at other sites sometimes come with two different families and they have to pay for both. Everyone knows, everyone pays and everyone is silent," he shares.

"It's shocking, there is no law in the Negev. Today it's protection over protection, tomorrow it's over other gains."

"They arrive physically on the first day and say 'this is our territory'."

Neighborhood D in B'Tselem (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Another contractor agrees that in the new neighborhoods being built in Be'er Sheva, all contractors pay maintenance fees.

"They divide the area between them, each family has the construction sites they are responsible for, and we pay for them."

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