Landlords in Tiberias and the surrounding area have raised prices and are demanding different prices from tenants and evicted persons. "You get money from the state," claims someone who wants to rent an apartment in the area. Prices have jumped, especially those of furnished apartments. A resident in the north who rents in Migdal: "I pay 16,20 shekels a month, which counts as little." Renting a two-room apartment: "There are those who receive NIS 3,000 from the state and want to pay NIS <>,<>. I don't rent to them."
Nir Yitzhak residents change homes - moving from hotel to Kibbutz Eilot // Photo: Ran Shauli
A new market for renting apartments has opened in the Tiberias area. The evacuated residents from northern communities realized in recent weeks that it would be months before they returned to their homes, and began looking for options for renting apartments outside the hotels. However, apartment owners in Tiberias and the surrounding area take advantage of the plight of the evacuees and demand exorbitant prices – especially the owners of furnished apartments.
The Ministry of Tourism opened three routes for the evacuees. One route includes full hotel accommodation, where about half of the 130,<> evacuees are still staying. The second route is renting apartments through the Ministry of Tourism – with which the homeowners have an arrangement, from which they receive payment directly for each adult and child. The third track, initiated by Tourism Minister Haim Katz, includes a daily payment for evacuees for adults and children.
"How much can we live in a hotel?"
The second route was chosen by a few thousand, and most of the evacuees preferred to receive payment directly through the indemnity route, and pay the homeowners.
Tent compound for evacuees from the north in Ramat Gan, photo: Yossi Zeliger
Maya, a resident of one of the kibbutzim in the Upper Galilee, rented a house in Migdal Colony. "We broke down, we're a couple with three kids – how much can you live in a hotel?" she says. "We pay 16,500 shekels in the tower, and it turned out that we pay the least. We joined a group of 18 people, most of them from Kiryat Shmona. Some pay about <>,<> shekels. We got a house worth nowhere near that price. But we had no choice.
"Crazy industry"
"They know we're getting money from the scheme, so they're raising prices – it's become a crazy industry," she explains. "Of course he took everything in cash. I'm ashamed to tell my family so they won't say we're extravagant. But when you want to keep the kids in frameworks and look after their friends, you have to rent close to the hotels. The house isn't worth more than NIS 5,000 a month. I feel exploited, but we won't be back at the hotel."
An examination by Israel Hayom shows that these are not isolated cases, but rather a phenomenon. Even in conversations we held with realtors and homeowners in the area to check the price of a house for a family in the area, the Ministry of Tourism's compensation calculation was presented to us before we were given the asking price (which was set accordingly).
Evacuated to a hotel in Tiberias, photo: Eyal Margolin-Ginny
A resident of Kfar Yuval said: "It started with a two-room apartment and a living room and locked cupboards with the landlord's private belongings, which demanded 11,16 shekels; Continued to the penthouse which was neater and more spacious, but for which they demanded 22,35 shekels; And it continued with villas at prices ranging from 23,<> to <>,<>. They don't want to give an option to pay, only the grant we receive." In such a situation, when a family of a couple and three children transfers the payment directly through the Ministry of Tourism, the landlord receives a monthly sum of NIS <>,<> for two rooms, when he is not obligated to provide meals to the family.
"There is a sense of exploitation"
Meital is looking for a furnished apartment, since all her belongings are in the community where she lives. "There was an answer that kept repeating itself - 'You get a grant from the state anyway, what do you care how much we demand?'" she says. "As soon as I understood that it was sweeping, I tried to understand with them whether it seemed proportionate to them, because sometimes it's a house worth no more than four thousand shekels a month – it's an apartment in Tiberias. It's frustrating. It's a feeling of exploitation. It's sad that they take advantage of helplessness, that we're tired of being in hotels."
Ayelet Biton from KSH pays rent of NIS 10,000 in Tiberias. When her co-workers from the city heard about it, they were shocked. "The landlord calculated how much I get from the state," she says. "I have friends who took three families together, they paid 17,<> shekels. When the landlord realized he could get more, he demanded that they close directly with the state and took the entire amount for himself – that way he earns three times as much. He wasn't willing to continue renting for the original amount he closed."
Sderot children evacuated with "Hibuki" dolls at the Grand Court Hotel in Jerusalem, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Avi Bitan from Kiryat Shmona also encountered a similar phenomenon. "We are being oppressed. For a one-room apartment and a living room for a month yesterday, I received an offer of 20,18 shekels a month. He calls it two rooms. It's in Tiberias – an apartment with a safe room. A similar apartment without a safe room, he offered me for <>,<> shekels. They have answers ready. It's as if they don't understand the state of the country. There are those who are just trying to take advantage of the situation."
In a conversation with Pnina, the owner of a rental villa who demanded NIS 20,<>, not including bills from a family with four children, she said: "I'm like a hotel – you don't pay anything. If you're four, that's irrelevant. It's not worth working with you through the outline."
"We had full diaries"
Doron, one of the honest realtors we spoke with, explained: "It's hard to find an apartment with furniture for a short period of time. These are rare properties and there are those who are prepared for the harsh rental conditions. Unfortunately, I came across pigs that I cut off contact with. They said, 'What do you care? They receive money from the state. I cut off contact with them, but unfortunately there are others here."
In a conversation we had with the landlord who demanded 20,16 shekels from Avi Bitan, he offered the same apartment, this time for <>,<> shekels. "It's a one-bedroom unit with a living room. I put you a sofa that opens into two beds, the house is fully equipped," he explained, immediately asking about the Tourism Ministry's compensation plan.
"The question is whether you get the money from the Ministry of Tourism straight away or will it go through us. A person who gets 20,3 shekels and wants to pay 000,800 shekels – I don't rent to him. It's not worth it to me," he says. "It's a place for recreation, I don't work much, but I work during this period. I rent for 16 shekels a night. If you take, I can rent you for <>,<> shekels a month."
When we resented the high price for a two-bedroom apartment, he replied: "Try to look from the other side. We had full diaries and everything was cancelled and the state does not compensate us. You can go and look for another roof. Let you know that my heart is with you."
The Ministry of Tourism explained that they call on the evacuees to behave with wise consumerism and examine all the options available to them. "There is no shortage of rooms. Not in hotel rooms and not in rental apartments at the expense of the state," the ministry stressed.
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