(haipo) – In the past year, we have witnessed a worrying phenomenon that is increasing on the streets of Haifa – beggars and homeless people hanging around central intersections, approaching drivers at traffic lights, and sometimes even endangering themselves and the environment.
City Council member Zvika Barbi raised the issue in a question he submitted to the mayor, thus once again bringing to the fore one of the city's most painful social issues. An issue that has been raised and discussed extensively over the past two years on the Haifa website.
In a query submitted by Barbie, he describes the current situation in Haifa: "Anyone who has recently driven through major intersections such as Paris Square, Horev Center, Ziv Center and Kiryat Eliezer has surely encountered those beggars who ask for alms directly from drivers. This is not only verbal appeals but also knocking on vehicle windows, putting hands and bodies inside the vehicle, and sometimes even shouting and threatening behavior. Beyond the inconvenience caused to drivers, there is a real safety hazard here - these people stand in the road, block traffic lanes and sometimes even fight among themselves for "control" of a particular intersection."
Barbie adds and warns: "It's only a matter of time before we see bodies at intersections. The beggars are spread out across the intersections, some of them drunk or under the influence of drugs, and they block the road, which endangers both the drivers and themselves. Furthermore, many of them quarrel among themselves, curse, abuse, and create a sense of fear and insecurity among the residents."
The council member demands to know whether the municipal security department has taken steps to file complaints with the police for harassment and extortion, and whether the municipality's integrated policing inspectors are working to prevent the phenomenon. He also asked whether the director of the department went out to the field to assess the situation and report to the Israel Police on the severity of the cases.
Barbie, it should be noted, posed a similar question in the previous term, in 2021, when he raised the same issue.
"The phenomenon has greatly diminished"
The mayor, in his response to the query, noted that there is indeed close cooperation on the issue between municipal officials and the Israel Police and that the two bodies are working together to eradicate the phenomenon. According to him, it turned out that most of these beggars are not residents of Haifa at all, and that many of them are street dwellers and drug addicts. The mayor also noted that the municipality has worked to evacuate people from intersections, and when it comes to people who need help, they are referred to the welfare departments for treatment.
"Since the directive was issued, many beggars have been evicted and the phenomenon has greatly diminished," the mayor said in his response. "Daily patrols are being conducted by the combined mobile unit and the municipal enforcement department, and inspectors are instructed to act to eradicate the phenomenon in accordance with the directives."
A problem of depth or enforcement?
While the municipality refers to the phenomenon in terms of a security threat and public order, some raise a broader question – is this a systemic failure in the treatment of street dwellers and the homeless?
Despite the steps being taken, there is no doubt that the phenomenon is far from solved. Even if the municipality continues to enforce and keep the beggars away, the central question remains – where are these people supposed to be? Is there a real alternative for them, or is this just a superficial treatment for a much deeper problem?
"We see dead bodies at intersections": the query submitted
The mayor: "The phenomenon has diminished"
When crime reigns, it should not be surprising that criminals employ beggars at intersections, and it should not be surprising that human lives are at risk. The more rotten everything is here with corruption, the worse the situation will get. If City Councilman Barbie wants to act, and he wants to act, it is better to start where the bulk of the corruption is taking place, and that is in the local planning committee, which approves significant deviations and other construction violations on the right and left, as well as the oppression of landowners - while completely destroying the city and turning it into one giant traffic jam - while being heavily suspected of attempts to exploit the artificial traffic jam to extort billions from the Ministry of Transportation's funds, allegedly to enrich the thieves even more.
It's not just recently.
The Carmel Center has at least 3 permanent locations for a long time.
They are really dangerous and look very bad.
And I ask where the welfare is to take care of them and help them.
From my inquiries with the beggars, it became clear to me that most of the beggars at the main intersections in Haifa are operated by criminals who collect a percentage from them and make sure that no other beggar invades the intersection under their control. Thus, at the Matam intersection and other intersections, the beggar collects and allocates a percentage to the person in charge of him, who also takes care of monitoring the intersection and making sure that it is not disturbed.
Did you want a date? You got it!
I saw a street on Independence Street lying next to the shops. . Something happened to the city of Haifa. Once upon a time, they took care of all these street residents. Not just fine them. They must undergo treatment and move them to the suburbs. I remember years ago, all the mayors and also in Tel Aviv really took it as a big project. They must be taken care of, in my opinion. Their number has grown and increased because of Klish, who really neglected to take care of them. Really poor. They were probably evicted from their homes and were forced to live on the street. They must be collected and taken care of all of them. It is a failure that they were not taken care of in the first place. . I would like to treat them as completely unsafe if they had been taken care of before, during Klish's time. The streets would not have been flooded.
.
It's been many years, not just two years.
Just a reminder: 300 social workers in the Haifa Municipality
The head of the committee boasts that he got them salary upgrades and a private car at our expense.
And we see dozens of homeless people on the streets.
Go out and learn what the mayor's laconic answers have to do with the situation on the ground. It was like this for 3 terms, so he was replaced.
Unfortunately, he was brought back to give the same answers again.
Eyal, the request is not all on the shoulders of the social workers. I heard that there was a request to the Klish about a budget for street companies and she ignored it outright. So what can they do when they don't get enough budget? Blame the social workers. You, the public, know that you elected the Klish because the municipality promised to make many changes and what it did was cut many employees.
At the expense of employees who were emptied from the departments, they really didn't bring in new employees.
Even though there were standards, those who retired or left because it really hurt the workers
She would follow them, Ohel, she herself did not spare herself, she hired consultants, which could cost a fortune, and all at the expense of all the departments she cut, and all this, you know, hurt the morale of all the employees.
Overall, the workers who once really invested in everyone who turned to them for help were really hurt. Because the burden was great and the budgets were small. . So please, we are tired of the persecution of welfare workers. Including Haifa Municipality employees.
persecution?!
That's their job. As you say, stop hounding teachers for poor student achievement. That's what you're paid for. Take care of these extreme cases. So that there aren't people rotting in apartments. Sleeping on the sidewalks.
It's not new that groups of beggars have been roaming intersections in Haifa and the Kiryat Shmona for several years, and not just in the last year, disrupting traffic and putting themselves at risk, but neither the police nor the municipality are doing anything about it! At best, the police remove the beggar from the intersection and the next day he returns. In my opinion, the solution should be a combination of enforcement and social welfare authorities dealing with those beggars.
I personally carry pepper spray with me for self-defense in case of need.
Another problem that is not enforced is the scooters with food delivery people riding freely on sidewalks and crosswalks, endangering pedestrians. This also requires serious enforcement by the police and the municipality, filing reports, and revoking licenses as appropriate.
Indeed, a problem that has existed for several years, not just in the last year, both in Haifa and in the Krayot, and nothing has been done about it!
Neither the police nor the municipality are addressing the problem, and if you remove a beggar from the road, he returns the next day.
In my opinion, the problem is that the welfare authorities in the state and the municipality do not take care of those beggars and street dwellers.
I personally keep pepper spray in my car for self-defense in case of need.
The mayor, who lives in his ivory tower in Dania or in his office, lives in La La Land. The phenomenon of homeless people in the city on every corner has increased exponentially in the past two years, and the municipality is not addressing or creating any real plan to treat the scourge that is spreading at a crazy pace in Carmel, Horev, Bezio, and Hadar. A very disturbing phenomenon that is on the rise so fast that the mayor will wake up to his senses or resign.
correct!