In the video: The last residents are evacuated from Sderot/Yinir Yagana
Little Amsalem ben Shoshan of Kiryat Shmona, a single mother of a 10-year-old and a five-year-old, has become in the last two weeks the presenter of the evacuees. She raised the cry of those whose short-term apartment owners want to throw them out before Passover, because the state is cutting their payment and causing them losses.
In every possible means of communication she told about the great predicament they are in. The livelihood that was lost, the children's frameworks that end early, the mortgage that continues to decrease, the insurances that have to be paid and there is no where, and the great uncertainty that they are in, on top of which is added the threat that hangs over their heads to leave again the temporary housing solution that they found.
Her appearance at the Economic Committee was heartbreaking. "We don't want them thrown on the street," she burst into tears. "We have nowhere to go. You have to understand our plight, we are not tourists with a trolley that can go from room to room," and pointed to her little son who was sitting there, "This child has already been through three kindergartens. Does it make sense to anyone that I move him to another kindergarten? I I am ashamed to look my children in the eyes after what they have been through in the last six months."
"There are hungry evacuees"
In the letter she sent to the Minister of Finance, Smotrich wrote: "I tried to check the possibility of receiving an occupancy grant and renting an apartment independently, but they are asking me for a contract for the next year for an empty apartment." Later, she details why he and the Minister of Tourism must come to meet the apartment owners and give them another NIS 55 per evacuee per day for economy fees: "There are hungry evacuees. I'm sad to say this, but consider it a mitzvah of Kamcha de Pescha for the evacuees."
There is no doubt that Ben Shoshan's words hurt and are justified in every sense. But what Ben Shushan did not tell the committee is that the ones who brought her to the discussion are the owners of the short-term apartments - those who threatened, and some of them actually carried out, to throw the evacuees out. They organized the transportation to the Knesset that left Tel Aviv at half past eight on the morning of the debate and accompanied her backstage.
One of them, D. (name withheld in the system), also gave Ben Shoshan and the other evacuees, in the WhatsApp group they opened for the benefit of the struggle initiated by the apartment owners, advice on what to say in the media, what to focus on and how to answer difficult questions. "I think the interviews are great," he wrote to the group members, "but they miss the goal. You are wasting precious screen time given to you. You should be specific and not spread out. 'We want permanent apartments with economy', you should ask clearly and create titles for them.
"Example: 'If I don't get an economy for a few more days, we do the holiday without food and an empty table.' And from there... they demand David Bitan to issue an order to give us an economy of NIS 30, 40, 50 a day. And dig like that. You're exciting, but I don't think much came of it. In two or three days they won't remember it anymore. Demand: 'I want to leave a map for David Bitan, when
you
do the holiday, take into account that we don't have food on the plate.'"
The management of the apartments turned on them and took advantage of them, D wrote candidly: "1. I don't volunteer. 2. I have helped many people and I still help where possible. 3. I'm trying to get the country to give you food. I spent a lot of money taking people to the committee. The truth is, not many came." He later left the group in a rage.
The big bite
Except that was just the pre-dinner cocktail. And now for the main thing. Let's talk about combine, the most Israeli word there is, which has become part of the DNA of those who want to survive in our crazy reality. There are small combines. Tricks designed to get what you want, with a little sting for those who stand in your way. Let's say, get in line at the supermarket, inform the last person that you are following him, and immediately continue shopping and at the end tell those who have been standing there patiently for 20 minutes, "Sorry, but I was following him".
As the combine harms more people, or exploits weak populations to make a profit at their expense, it walks the fine line between what is forbidden and what is allowed. What some of the companies that manage short-term accommodation apartments, known as "AirB&B Apartments", did with the residents who were evacuated from their homes, this is not only an ugly combination on the backs of evacuees who are at a low point, but a failure to tell the truth at best, and at worst, An act that may end up in the interrogation rooms.
Sources privy to the details estimate that from the end of November to April, at a time when there was no close supervision by the Ministry of Tourism of the owners of the management companies of the short-term apartments, there were among them those who managed to sting the state with more than NIS 150 million for about 2,000 evacuees staying in them.
We will go back half a year. The residents of Ofetaf, Sderot and Ofakim were the first to be evacuated to hotels across the country. Less than a week and a half later, the evacuation of the northern settlements began for the remaining rooms, and they were scattered everywhere. The Ministry of the Interior, appointed to deal with the incident, worked alongside the local authorities, and contracted without a tender with a tourist agent who worked with the Israel Police, because he was the most available at the time.
After less than two weeks, when it became clear the size of the mess, the high rates paid by the state, duplicate or missing registrations, and a handsome coupon issued by the agent, the Minister of Tourism entered the picture and took over the management of the evacuation, trying to bring some order to it and reduce costs. Rates were set for hotels and an "occupancy grant" was given to evacuees who preferred to live in rented apartments or with relatives.
The owners of management companies for short-term apartments, which stood empty due to the war because of the lack of tourists, quickly realized that there was a great business opportunity here. They will be able to fill their apartments and start making a living, and the evacuees will be able to settle in a more spacious apartment and in better conditions for a long-term stay.
The first to recognize the potential were some energetic entrepreneurs, who founded Istra in 2022, the "Association of Short-Term Residential Apartment Operators", to fight for their rights. The association operated for a year and a half on a relatively small fire, and entered into intensive activity after October 7.
A generous rate
Istra called on apartment owners and managers to join it and the contract it signed, as a representative organization, with the state, to rent the apartments to evacuees. The rate she got was very nice: NIS 260 (not including VAT) per day for an adult and NIS 160 (not including VAT) per day for a child up to the age of 18, or in a monthly summary, NIS 20,400 for a couple with a child, and NIS 25,200 for a family with Two kids. In the first weeks, she charged each member of the organization ten shekels per head per night, according to them, to finance the costs.
Since these are very high amounts, even for apartments in Tel Aviv, especially for one-and-a-half-room apartments in the periphery, at the end of November the Ministry of Finance and Tourism decided to reduce rates, to the dismay of Istra members and apartment owners who do not belong to the association, and worked with the state separately.
The new, and still very generous, rate was 220 NIS for an adult and 110 NIS for a child (not including VAT). Or, on a monthly basis, 19,800 NIS for a couple with two children. The average rent for such a furnished housing unit in the central area, plus property tax and electricity, is , on average, about 12,000 shekels, in the periphery it reaches about 8,000 shekels. So the profit of the management companies is very high.
This is where the combine came in full force, and without an iota of shame. Some of the owners of the apartments' management companies , who were very upset that their profits were cut, miraculously found a way to increase them significantly. Their apartments became a "united accommodation facility", which receives a handsome rate of NIS 362 without VAT per adult, and NIS 181 per child per night, and must provide three meals. a day and cleaning once a week. A couple with two children will receive NIS 32,580 from the state, leaving about NIS 12,000 to spend.
A unified accommodation facility is an intermediate level, or more correctly, a hybrid creature, between short-term apartments and a hotel. According to the contract of the Ministry of Tourism, it is a non-hotel facility, "which includes at least 11 accommodation units concentrated in one building or several adjacent buildings, in a 33-meter area, relying on unified public areas. The facility is owned by one party, and the hospitality activity in it is managed by one management body."
What is a unified facility?
To remove doubt, and reduce confusion, the Ministry of Tourism specified in black on a contract exactly which facilities they call a "unified facility": "Youth hostels, student dormitories, madrassas, yeshivas, studios, apartments in kibbutzim, khans and field schools, but with a few", it was emphasized There, "hotel accommodation facilities, outdoor overnight parking (camping), B&Bs, villas and accommodation apartments". And for those who didn't understand, the short-term accommodation apartments are not considered a single occupancy facility.
The exclusion of short-term accommodation apartments from the definition did not impress, as mentioned, some of the short-term apartment owners, who declared themselves as owners of a "united facility", even though they are not, while trying to rely on legal quibbles. They increased to make some of them that declared themselves as hotels, no less, and receive from the state NIS 550 per adult, without VAT, for the lowest hotel class and half the amount for a child. And on a monthly basis, a couple with two children 49,500 NIS. The expenditure, as mentioned, remains the same: about 12,000 In order to meet the requirements of providing three meals a day, the evacuee contracts with the apartment owner how much the family will receive
in
advance. The rate for a couple with two children is about 10,000 economy fees, which they can receive in various forms: vouchers, tenbis vouchers, cash against receipts from the supermarket, cash or bank transfer. This is after the evacuee signs that the food is not a guarantee, and alternatively he requests to receive money About the "economy" as an income tax expense.
Some of the evacuees realized that there was a business here and began to demand an economy fee from the owners of the accommodation apartments during the negotiations, as a condition to enter the apartment. One without the accommodation apartments told us: "I can't provide them with an apartment, and give an economy to a couple with two children in the amount of NIS 10,000, so I remain empty. The lady says in the Knesset that there are no apartments. So there are many empty apartments, just without an economy, because we don't steal from the state There is a clause that the Ministry of Tourism is allowed to give them separately from the owner of the apartment. If they want, let them give it directly to the evacuee.
"It's convenient for everyone"
R., one of the apartment owners, who she claims works legally, has to pay economy fees and still manages to earn, wrote in the group: "Many evacuees contacted me and asked for very high economy fees, and were not satisfied with the good economy that I offered as much as I could. When I explained to them that I could not give that much Because I report and don't receive like the others, they told me that maybe I should 'fake' so that I can give. They asked me why I don't do it, and they preferred to go to the same companies without taking into account that it might be a risk. The situation was convenient for everyone and no one thought that it will explode."
She revealed another combination that apartment owners do to avoid getting into trouble with the income tax. A couple with two children is registered as a couple with a child, and the additional child receives an occupancy grant of NIS 110 from the state. "Sometimes it's easier to write down less than to give an economy," R. confessed. "No one knows if one day the IRS will decide to come upon us and tell us that it's not right, that we reported it as an expense. If they come with such a statement, the business owner is gone. He may not only not be in profit, but even in loss. On the other hand , evacuees prefer money rather than experience. And I will share that there is talk in the air that the Ministry of Tourism has withheld funds, so it may not be far off that the IRS will intervene. Therefore, it is better for the economy to come from the state."
And when the minister talked about stopping funds, she meant that at the beginning of April the Ministry of Tourism realized that there was a fraud of considerable magnitude. They hired an accounting firm and were assisted by a legal team that began to review the hotels and united facilities, which were added to the list. Payments to 28 unified facilities have been stopped, 18 hotels are currently being investigated.
Despite the tightening of supervision, there are still combine harvesters in the field. Apartment owners do not like to host individuals, because the payment for them does not cover the expenses. To overcome the obstacle, they take advantage of a clause that allows singles or divorcees to live in an apartment with a partner. The evacuee fills out a statement with the identity card of the "boyfriend" or "girlfriend", apparently, the owners of the apartment report hosting a couple, and share the profit with them, as an economy fee. Even divorced people can do a similar trick with the children. The child, or children, are registered to both the mother and the father, and they are awarded economic benefits.
"They lied and trampled"
Y., one of the evacuees, who understood at the very beginning how the apartment owners were playing tricks on them and the country, wrote in the WhatsApp group: "How many apartments are there in Tel Aviv that are regularly rented for NIS 20,000 a month? Can we put things on the table and admit that there are not enough tourists in Israel , and all of Airbnb's companies currently have no customers waiting on the line.
"Little," he addressed Amsalem Ben Shoshan. "They lied, trampled, and played with us for months. These companies realized that they had been outdone, and instead of coming and telling us the truth, they continued to sell us false stories under the pretext that 'the Ministry of Tourism changed their classification', while they were the ones who made the mess in the first place. Forgive me for not having a drop of sympathy left for them.
"Now they are trying to take people's difficult stories, to change the situation in their favor, not in your favor. They are trying to use us like puppets and a way to create money and wealth, which is simply delusional, outrageous and criminal. Your wish and ours is welcome, but not realistic, because the request is to continue And to generate a crazy profit for the owners of these apartments at our expense, while the state representatives tell you in the committees that they did not want to enter into an agreement with them at all."
And where is the tourism office in this alley? It is clear that the management of the evacuation was not carried out optimally, to say the least, but on the other hand, before the arrival of Tourism Minister Haim Katz to the event, it was managed in a completely catastrophic manner.
One can take solace in the fact that when they realized that this was a real problem and that funds were being spent illegally in very high volumes, they immediately stopped the payments to entities that do not meet the criteria. It was expected that lists of those who were found to have not met the criteria, and fraudulently spent money, allegedly, from the state treasury, would be forwarded to the police and the income tax. And maybe it's time to let a professional who understands the field manage the operation.
"Give us the list of hotels and unified facilities and we will do the work for you and tell you exactly who is who," says an apartment owner who works legally. "We know everyone. It is impossible that people are allowed to take advantage of the state and the evacuees like this."
"complex subject"
The Chairman of the Economic Committee, David Bitan, said in response: "The discussion in the committee was held at the request of members of the Kiryat Shmona City Council and evacuees came to make their voices heard. When I got into the thick of it, I realized that this was a complex issue, and therefore the committee's handling of it ended."
The Ministry of Tourism stated: "In order to allow maximum flexibility, we offer evacuees two main accommodation options: a hotel with full board and a daily living allowance for independent evacuees, in the amount of NIS 200 per adult and -100 NIS per child, which is 18 thousand net per couple + 2 per month.
"At the same time, the ministry received an outline from the Ministry of Finance for financing residential apartments only, which is used by about 2,000 evacuees. In a field audit conducted in recent months, it emerged that dozens of apartment management companies reported a false report and received a hotel rate, which is much higher than the amount to which they are actually entitled. The ministry informed the companies About the findings and retroactive offset of excess funds. Taking into account the wishes of the evacuees, the ministry agreed to continue with the apartment rate, which is NIS 23,868 per month + 2. We regret the exploitation of the evacuees' plight and the false promises given by the companies for economy fees all the information in his possession to investigative and enforcement bodies that request it."
No response was given from Istra.