Exclusive:
Against the background of the two earthquakes that were felt in the north of the country at the beginning of last week, the report of the Knesset Research and Information Center, submitted at the request of MK Israel Eichler, reveals horrific data regarding earthquake protection, and raises very difficult questions The future if one of these occurs in Israel in the coming years.
According to the report, which includes a comprehensive study on "TMA 38 Lan", in all the communities of the Syrian-African fault line, from Eilat to Kiryat Shmona, only 70 buildings were reinforced over five years. In the Jerusalem area near the fault line, for example, only one percent Only one of the buildings that requested reinforcement received a permit.
According to estimates by the Ministry of Construction and Housing, there are about 80,000 buildings in Israel of three floors or more that need reinforcement, including about 810,000 apartments.
In addition, according to estimates by the inter-ministerial steering committee for earthquake preparedness, in the event of a strong earthquake, in addition to injuries, about 28,600 buildings may be destroyed or severely damaged (damage of at least 45% of the building value), and about 290,000 other buildings with damage Mild or moderate (damage of 20% -5% of the building value).
According to the Steering Committee, the total number of buildings to be strengthened in ten cities in areas prone to earthquakes is 1,871 buildings, including 36,758 apartments, which require reinforcement against earthquakes and missile protection (MMAD). The cost of strengthening and protecting these buildings is estimated at NIS 3.9 billion. .
MK Israel Eichler. "It is unbelievable that it will be told, we are simply not doing anything" / Photo: Noam Moskowitz, Knesset Spokeswoman,
"There is a total failure here," says the commissioner of the report, MK Israel Eichler of Torah Judaism.
"We sit for years on the subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for Home Front Defense and talk there about the matter of the earthquake and strengthening buildings and it is unbelievable that it will be told, we are simply not doing anything."
The periphery is left behind: 76% of the fortified buildings - in Tel Aviv and the center
The report of the Research and Information Center also referred to the percentage of protection in the center's localities versus localities in the periphery, and the results, how to say? Are not surprising.
According to the report, during the years of implementation of TMA 38, only 1.7% of the buildings that needed reinforcement were actually strengthened and protected (1,337 buildings). About 76% of the buildings that were strengthened and protected are in the Tel Aviv and Central districts, and about 5% in the northern and southern districts.
In the framework of the NPA, 13,124 apartments were added, on average, for every apartment that was protected and strengthened within the framework of the NPA, a new apartment was added.
About 80% of the additional apartments are in the demand areas - the Tel Aviv and Central districts.
The overall project duration, from permit application to project completion, increased from two and a half years in 2010 to more than seven years in 2020, so the route planned to be fast has become slow over the years.
In 2019, it was decided to end the program by 2022, due to its failure to promote the strengthening and protection of buildings to the required extent, and its inapplicability in peripheral localities, where the strengthening and protection of buildings is especially required.
The plan also failed as a tool for densifying the built fabric ("urban renewal"), partly due to a lack of planning and, in doing so, a lack of response to the needs of the infrastructure and public buildings required for the densification created by its implementation.
"Almond alternative": the difficult questions
As you may recall, in November 2020, the government adopted "Resolution 590" on the establishment of a team to examine complementary tools to encourage the strengthening of residential buildings from earthquakes in risk areas in the periphery.
According to the decision, the inter-ministerial team headed by the Director General of the Ministry of the Interior will recommend to the government complementary tools needed to encourage the strengthening and protection of existing residential buildings built before 1980, for which NPA 38 and the mechanisms currently proposed do not provide an economic solution In the periphery.
However, the report raises many questions about the so-called "almond alternative", which is supposed to replace TMA 38, and doubts the ability to implement it in practice.
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Lack of planning-urban consideration
- in the Shaked alternative, it is proposed to establish an arrangement regarding the determination of a public designation in part of the residential building at a rate of 15% -10% of the existing construction areas on the lot, depending on the route. Up to 10% of the total area allowed for construction on the lot (in addition to the addition of residential building rights). Submitting a plan in this route requires the opinion of the local committee engineer, according to which it is preferable to strengthen the structure, rather than demolish and rebuild, given, among other things, the condition of the structure, the plot and its surroundings including their architectural or historical importance. However, the bill does not include planning or municipal considerations in this regard.
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Statutory or policy plans?
The Government Authority for Urban Renewal does not promote comprehensive plans for urban renewal for the entire area of a local committee, but it does promote various planning tools for certain neighborhoods in some cities.
These are all-urban "building renewal plans" in eight localities: Ashdod, Ramla, Yavne, Rishon Lezion, Petah Tikva, Kfar Saba, Haifa and Nahariya.
According to the authority, within the framework of these plans, there are approximately 21,000 existing buildings that have the potential for building renewal.
The report states that it is not clear what type of plans are involved, whether they are statutory plans or policy plans, and how a "building renewal plan" fits in with the entire area of urban renewal.
• The question of the improvement levy -
Regarding the improvement levy, the question arises as to what are the reasons for determining a uniform rate of exemption from the improvement levy for all plans in all cities?
Although in some cases the rate of the improvement levy increases (for example in relation to the full exemption granted in NAP 38), it is still lower compared to the levy on improvements in other properties. What are the effects of such a determination on local authorities' ability to budget Will the proposed improvement levy allow for proper budgeting of the required development?
Another question that arises from the report in the context of the improvement levy is why in the description and analysis of TMA 38 and the proposed plan to replace it, local authorities are not given the authority to determine the rate of the improvement levy considering various parameters related to land values and development needs in the project area?
Gaza Envelope: Over 10,000 MMDs in almost 10 years
In addition, the report addresses the protection of buildings in the Gaza Envelope localities, and reveals that in the years 2008–2017, apartments were protected in about 42 localities in the Gaza Envelope.
In the years 2022-2019, approximately NIS 354 million was allocated for the protection of dwellings near the northern border (settlements that are up to one kilometer from the northern border).
An additional NIS 35 million was allocated for the protection and strengthening of public housing apartments.
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