(haipo) While the public is preoccupied with security incidents and economic crises, a silent epidemic is taking place beneath the surface – the epidemic of loneliness and lonely death. According to data from the organization ZAKAIn 2025 alone, more than 1,200 people were found in Israel who died alone in their homes, sometimes days or even weeks before they were found. Haifa and the northDozens of cases have been reported, some of the elderly, others of young people who lived alone and died without anyone noticing.
The numbers behind the phenomenon
- In 2025, over 100,000 people were reported in Israel. 1,200 individual deaths, an increase of about 15% compared to the previous year.
- In the Haifa and Krayot area – About 90 cases, most of them are 65 years old and older.
- According to ZAKA, the average age of the deceased is 72, but cases of young people in their 40s have also been recorded.
- In most cases, the body is discovered following complaints from neighbors or relatives who were unable to make contact.
Social wake-up call
The silent epidemic cannot be solved through medicine alone. It requires social change, more vigilance for neighbors, more visits, more phone calls. The ZAKA calls on the public to pay attention to the signs: an apartment closed for a long time, a backlog of mail, or a person who has not been seen for a long time. “Sometimes one phone call can save a life,” They say in the organization.
The Haifa Municipality has begun examining ways to identify lonely elderly people early, through collaborations with non-profit organizations and welfare agencies. Following recent deaths of homeless residents in Haifa who were found in their homes only days later, a meeting was held Municipality Director General David Luria An emergency meeting was held with the participation of welfare, operations, supervision and city council representatives. The municipality announced the launch of a dedicated pilot in the Hadar neighborhood and a city-wide campaign to encourage community involvement.
Emergency discussion and focused pilot in the Hadar neighborhood
The discussion convened by the municipality's CEO was attended by municipal officials, welfare, operations, supervision, resident services, Carmel Water Corporation, and representatives of the city council. The purpose of the discussion was to formulate practical steps that would allow the municipality to proactively reach senior citizens living alone and strengthen the connection with them.
In Haifa, an estimated 7,000 senior citizens live alone, some of whom are not in contact with social services. As a result, it was decided to launch a targeted pilot in the Hadar neighborhood, where several of the recent cases occurred, which involves proactively identifying homeless residents by going door-to-door with the assistance of professionals, with the aim of getting to know the residents, establishing contact with them, and inviting them to join the municipal program.
Smart water meters and additional steps
In parallel with the field activity, the municipality will activate the use of Carmel Water Corporation's smart water meters. Unusual monitoring of a decrease in water consumption can serve as an additional means of identifying a situation in which there is concern for the well-being of a person living alone. The municipality's CEO also instructed to increase the proactive conversations of welfare agencies with senior citizens, to promote cooperation with the National Insurance Institute for the purpose of expanding information on homeless residents, to examine the integration of municipality employees into a support system and personal contact, and to concentrate the activity in the Hadar district while pooling resources and collaborating with all municipal agencies.
A city campaign to encourage good neighborliness
Alongside the activity focused on Hadar, the Haifa Municipality will launch a municipal awareness campaign to encourage community involvement and good neighborliness. The campaign will call on residents to pay attention to senior citizens living alone in their area, to inquire about their well-being, to knock on doors, to call, and to pay attention to unusual changes in their daily routine. The municipality emphasizes that public involvement is a central component of the initiative, and calls on residents who recognize an elderly person living alone in the building or neighborhood to be vigilant: if they have not seen them for a while, if there has been an unusual change in their routine, or if something is of concern, to check and report it immediately to the municipality.
"We must not accept the situation"
Mayor of Haifa, Yona Yahav, said: "Haifa is a city of communities and mutual guarantee. We must not accept a situation where a person lives alone, passes away in his home and no one knows about it for days. The municipality has a responsibility and we will use all the tools at our disposal to reach the elderly citizens, strengthen the connection with them and build a supportive environment for them. But alongside the municipal systems, the community also has enormous power. For a neighbor who is interested, a short phone call or a knock on the door are small acts that can have enormous significance. In Haifa, we must see each other and take care of each other."
"Don't wait for someone to ask for help"
Haifa Municipality Director General, David Luria, He added: "The recent cases require us to act, and quickly. I have instructed to coordinate an integrated municipal effort that will connect social work in the field, technology, information, municipal employees and the community. We are starting with proactive activity in Hadar, including reaching homes, strengthening telephone connections and using smart water meters. The goal is not to wait for someone to ask for help, but to try to reach them first. Our responsibility is to do everything possible so that a person living alone knows that there is someone who sees them, knows them and cares for them."
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Loneliness kills slowly but surely!
This is what happens when you save money on welfare services.
And they move them, only the devil knows where.
I am a senior citizen who greatly enjoys a meaningful, groundbreaking job that also provides a good solution to loneliness.
I recently learned that it was closed.
I asked why?
Because they deleted it from the budget.
300000 NIS. Without shame.
Now looking for solutions.
There are 300 social workers in the municipality on huge salaries. They don't save anything. The costs are crazy. They just sit in their air-conditioned offices and write reports for hours on end. Instead of taking care of those in need, they mainly worry about getting a car to the municipal council and a promotion in rank - that's all the social workers are interested in. They should be called social workers.
The culprits are the Likud government, including Benjamin Netanyahu! The allowance used to be linked to the CPI, Bibi cut allowances in 2003, since then the few have been giving up food, water, medicine! I too will die like this because of a roof company for Jose and I am in need, they take 2000 shekels from me to pay debts!
Only the late Ilan Gillon, during the government of change, was a true tzaddik and managed to enact a law to increase benefits in stages every six months or a year.
It's clear that the Likud is to blame for everything, even when there's a typhoon in Shanghai, it's all because of Miri Regev, when there are fires in Europe, it's Ben Gvir, when there's a takeover by infiltrators of the Spanish-occupied enclave of Rocco, it's because of Amir Ohana.
You are the most psychotic DPFs the country has ever produced, Kaplanarxism
About two years ago, I already suggested to the municipality to use water meter readings as a means of identifying the problem and defined a complete solution – and still there is only talk and the elderly are dying. Sad
😍On the one hand – a good idea!
On the other hand – excessive surveillance leads to "loss of privacy"!; Maybe the person/resident/tenant on Vacation or Tour or😭