(live here) – Abandoned buildings, luxury properties in the heart of neighborhoods, concrete skeletons facing the seashore – these are not just spots on the urban landscape but a scene of conflict between the public interest and the right to private property. In the city of Haifa, as in other cities in Israel, in recent years there have been calls for regulating the relationship between significant property owners and the needs of all residents. The central question – can the Haifa Municipality and should influence private property owners to build, renovate or promote initiatives in accordance with the general interest, even if it is not an immediate profitable move for them?
The old Egged building: an empty property in the heart of the city that became a hotbed for crime
The historic Egged Central Bus Station in Haifa, once a bustling transportation hub, has become a ghost town in recent years. Since the transportation function was transferred to the Gulf Central and the Carmel Beach, the building – which now belongs to the Nitzba company – has remained desolate. The question is whether the company, which owns a large property in the heart of the neighborhood, has the right to leave it neglected as long as it has no real economic interest in its development?
Although the municipality does not own the property, it bears public ownership: residents report crime, drug trafficking, and prostitution – phenomena that flourish in the shadow of abandoned buildings. In such circumstances, can the local authority use tools such as property taxes or promoting mandatory zoning plans to force Nitsba to renovate or demolish the building?
Bat Galim's Casino: A Debate on the Boundary Between Private Property and Public Space
Not far away, on the beach in the Bat Galim neighborhood, the skeleton of the casino building has stood for decades – a historic structure from the days of the British Mandate. It is currently owned by Gil Dankner, a private entrepreneur who is trying to advance a plan to build a luxury hotel there. However, the plan has met with fierce opposition from neighborhood residents, who demand real public participation and claim that the sensitive location requires a solution that will also serve the local community.
The debate over the casino has become a clear example of the tension between public interest and private property. Dankner claims that it is a property that is privately owned, and as such, he should not be forced to build something on it that is not profitable for him. On the other hand, residents point to the damage to the neighborhood fabric as a result of the neglect of the structure and its impact on the image of the beach and the entire region.
Can the municipality dictate the use of a private building that is not in use?
One of the most difficult structural problems of the real estate market in Israel
The case of the old Egged and the casino in Bat Galim raises weighty questions: Are owners of large properties allowed to simply decide not to do anything with them? Is the decision to leave a building as a concrete skeleton on the beach, or as an abandoned hangar in the heart of a city, a purely private matter – or is it a public issue that requires intervention?
Lior Detz, a communications consultant, lawyer and architect, believes that this is one of the most difficult structural problems of the real estate market in Israel.
"The State of Israel has been in a housing crisis for more than 40 years, and this crisis is exacerbated precisely because of the possibility of leaving undeveloped properties without paying significant taxes," says Detz. "One reason for this is the abolition of the property tax. If the state were to restore this tax, as the Tax Authority director plans to do, it would be possible to encourage entrepreneurs and property owners to renovate and build."
New taxation on unused land: hope or threat?
According to Detz, the Tax Authority is currently considering a significant move: reinstating property taxes that would apply to vacant land even if it is not generating income. This proposal, which is scheduled to take effect as early as 2026, could change the rules of the game: landowners would have to pay 1.5%–2.5% of the land's value annually just for holding it.
The goal is clear – to prevent land hoarding, expand supply, and encourage construction. The practical meaning: It is no longer profitable to hold an empty property just for the purpose of increasing future value or avoiding short-term economic risks.
The legal tension: property rights versus the public interest
Attorney, real estate appraiser and chairman of Yaffe Nof Assaf Gastfreund emphasizes that public discourse sometimes tends to forget the limits of the law:
"The casino belongs to Dankner – it's private property. Just as no one would want a tower built in front of their face, they also have the right to decide what to do with the property they own," he explains. "If a contractor doesn't make a profit, they won't build. The developer's legal obligation is to act according to the approved plan – nothing more."
According to him, a plan that is entrusted and prepared by planning committees takes into account all the components – from the public interest to the economic considerations of the developer. Ultimately, it is the planning institutions that decide.
Where is the Haifa Municipality in all of this?
Although the Haifa Municipality is not a proprietary party in cases like Egged or the casino, it is a key player in all matters related to planning, licensing, and property tax charges. Does it have the legal or moral ability to exert pressure? Attorney Gastfreund answers in the negative:
"You can't force a person to develop their property. There is no legal basis for this. As long as the owner doesn't break the law, you can't force him to act according to the public's will."
And yet, there are growing voices claiming that the municipality has an important role in shaping public space – including through economic tools. Charging property taxes on empty buildings, promoting mandatory master plans, and setting planning ultimatums – all of these may make the economic viability of leaving a building abandoned much lower.
Residents are asking for broader public involvement
In the city of Haifa, especially in neighborhoods like Bat Galim, residents are calling for increased public oversight of land use. "It's not possible for the owner of such a central property to decide not to do anything with it - and we will continue to walk around among the skeletons of buildings," says a resident of the neighborhood. "We want to see our casino alive, active, illuminated. Not feel abandoned."
This feeling of abandonment, which is repeated in other cases throughout the city, creates a sense of helplessness toward those who hold great real estate power but are not committed to any declared public interest.
The question of responsibility: Should the state intervene?
The case of the old Egged and the casino in Bat Galim is just the tip of the iceberg in Haifa and throughout Israel. In a country where tens of thousands of built-up acres stand empty, unused and without clear future planning, the question arises again and again whether the responsibility for this lies with the authorities or with the property owners. Can a country afford to leave empty buildings in city centers while it is dealing with an ongoing housing crisis?
As Lior Detz suggested, perhaps the time has come for a profound change in economic and planning policy – one that understands that the public space cannot be controlled by wealthy individuals alone, and that ownership of property is also accompanied by public responsibility.
The question that has not yet been answered: Does the municipality have effective tools?
Finally, the question remains whether the Haifa Municipality currently has effective tools to combat the abandonment of buildings.
Can it demand property taxes from non-productive buildings?
Is it able to promote binding plans even without the cooperation of the property owners?
Can any fines or sanctions be imposed on properties that are neglected over years?
As long as these gray areas remain within the boundaries of legal ambiguity, the tension, anger, and feeling of many residents living in the shadow of private real estate that dictates the appearance of public space – but does not reflect the common good – will continue.
Haifa Municipality: Leading the first initiative of its kind in Israel to comprehensively address the phenomenon of abandoned buildings
The municipality said it is leading the first of its kind in Israel to comprehensively address the phenomenon of abandoned buildings. "Urban mapping has identified approximately 700 empty properties, and a dedicated unit has been established to promote enforcement, rehabilitation, and legislative measures. The reform is being carried out in cooperation with government ministries, with the aim of turning abandoned buildings into an opportunity for urban rehabilitation and strengthening security in neighborhoods. The municipality is contacting property owners, issuing renovation orders, and promoting temporary uses in collaboration with entrepreneurs. Rehabilitation plans are being monitored and legal barriers are being analyzed with government ministries.
In addition, the municipality is promoting new legislation and initiating a municipal bylaw to deal with abandoned buildings. As a general rule, and without regard to any particular building, buildings whose construction has not been completed or buildings that have been damaged are not liable for property taxes. In the meantime, the municipality is examining each building individually and conducting legal proceedings intended to bring about the charging, even if only partially, of property taxes for every building for which there is a legal basis for liability."
It's very simple. Developers intentionally neglect buildings for 3 reasons:
A. They believe they will be able to squeeze new rights and uses from the municipality in the future
B. They want to bring about the collapse and demolition of a building for preservation / fear that they will be required to preserve it
C. They believe it is worth waiting for prices/demand to increase, which will lead to increased profits and revaluation in the reports.
In this way, the developer actually has many conflicting interests for the benefit of the city, especially the residents of the neighborhoods where the buildings become a serious nuisance and a continuing harm to the city when it comes to a complex like the central bus station in Bat Galim.
Municipalities need a series of effective tools. For example:
1. Declaring a building as dangerous and harmful to public health and coming up with a D-9 to demolish the building and charge the developer with expenses + a heavy fine if it is a building that was on a conservation list. A fine that will not be worth it to leave such a building neglected in the future thinking that it will fall and be destroyed and something else can be built without preserving it.
2. A mechanism of reward for developers who build and do not neglect. On the other hand, a mechanism of fines for failure to build according to the schedules of approved plans (with the idea that they can cancel or change them in the future).
3. Creating a mechanism for taxation on future construction that increases as time passes during which no construction has been carried out on a property purchased and owned by a developer. This means that it will no longer be worthwhile for the developer to wait for future improvements.
Haifa's visibility is very important to Haifa.
This needs to change.
The municipality can do this.
Dr. Assaf Gastfreund is a Trojan horse of contractors and real estate moguls with interests against the city of Haifa.
What is absurd and outrageous is that he controls the infrastructure company Yaffe Nof, while he himself is in conflict with the interests of a person who makes a living from real estate appraisals on the one hand, and the ability to direct projects that will improve real estate using Yaffe Nof's public budgets.
His answers that "it's Dankner's private property" completely ignore the buyer's breach of obligation to the RMI to develop the property in the time allotted to him. He also ignores the ability of municipalities to influence approved plans on public lands such as the casino, and that there is no need to bow down and surrender to every whim of a developer, as we saw the Tel Aviv municipality fighting to take possession of the Dolphins land, and most importantly, the casino sits on the few coastal areas that belong to the public in Haifa.
I call for this doctor to be removed from his position as chairman of Yaffe Nof, in which he has a very large conflict of interest with his role as an active real estate appraiser and someone who deals in real estate and comes into regular contact with contractors.
It not only smells bad, it's simply a huge opening for corruption.
1.) There is no shortage of land in the country. This is a bluff! There is another 75% of the areas designated for construction (for construction, not for nature) that have not yet been utilized at all. That is, ten million people currently live on a quarter of the land. There is no land shortage. It's just that any land that is not settled is annexed dunam after dunam to cousins.
2.) By lowering the threshold for consent to various types of public works, the government made an illegal and, above all, unconstitutional move, and effectively abolished the right to private property in the country. Because property is suddenly defined as public and you will know which side of the percentages you will be on tomorrow. Use your head a little and open your eyes. All the greedy people should do is think for a moment if they want to live in a fascist communist country where the state is above everything, the common good above the individual, and private property that was once yours becomes common. This legislation completely contradicts: the property section in the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty.
3.) The state cooperates with the UN's Agenda 2030, from which the above moves are derived. There will be no states, only local councils, and one world government. Don't believe me? Check me out. The goal: you will have nothing and be happy :))) (This is a quote). Therefore, everything is being done to strengthen the political, physical, and financial power of the municipalities. Suddenly the municipality has the right to decide on private property. From expropriating buildings for its own needs and the decrepit railway, for which there is somehow half a billion, to determining new city plans, that is, suddenly changing free zoning ordinances, which potentially turn your property into a potential defilement, and so when you want to sell you will have to, just because of the plan, pay the municipality, how beautiful it is, you will spend out of nowhere, hundreds of thousands of shekels in improvement levies even when you didn't build at all. A successful method. Slowly, you are normalized that your property - is not yours at all. With all sorts of pretentious excuses of the common good, aesthetics, sustainability, etc., when in the end, no matter what, you will have to pay additional taxes out of your pocket. So first you will pay taxes on the money when you earned it, then on the thing when you bought it, and then in order to be allowed to keep it you will pay again, and again, and again… the State of Israel. And it will go up, and up… until in the end you will have neither a car nor a house. Because someone (whom you chose or maybe not) will decide that you are not allowed to, or they will manage to impoverish you first. Come on, property taxes…
Yes, the "distress, distress" bluff.
They recite straight from the pages of slogans and spinology of contractor lobbying.
Because some of them are simply the contractors' representatives on the city council.
There is no free parking at Rambam, there are not enough parking spaces, you can do a project with smart crossings at Rambam, but you need goodwill and talent….
As long as the mayor doesn't really look for a solution to the problem, he will "enjoy" the receivers as he enjoyed them in the past, (allegedly).
Even if the property owners want to work to renovate and regulate the buildings for their use, an engineering director in the current form of poor functioning cannot really help in this matter. The situation of an engineering director as the third largest city in the country only puts a damper on entrepreneurs, so it is not worthwhile for them to build and develop the city. Yona needs to think carefully about what he is doing with the engineering director. Perhaps it would be right for him to reinstate Hedva Almog, who knew how to manage the engineering director at a high level. Under her leadership, the director was more effective and did not suffer from poor management. Therefore, during her previous terms, the city had income as a result of construction and development, not what is happening today. Yona urgently needs to wake up!!!
Abandoned buildings are a hazard, and the regulator and the authority must act to remove hazards from residents' spaces.
The municipality has many tools to act to change the situation, all it lacks is motivation (=
Motivated only against residents, not against the capitalists who finance campaigns and politicians.