When demolished buildings are rebuilt, the law requires adding a building permit – but who will pay? A pointed blog about the problem of forced rehabilitation after damage, and the call for the establishment of a dedicated government fund to solve it. When a state rebuilds demolished apartments – it is obligated to add a building permit. But who will finance the cost of the improvement? A pointed blog that illuminates the budgetary trap of reconstruction under a mandatory protection standard. When a state promises to rehabilitate demolished apartments, it demands that a building permit be included – but does not commit to financing it. This is the building permit trap, a legal distortion that jeopardizes the entire reconstruction process. The owners of the apartments whose homes were demolished hope for reconstruction through evacuation and construction, but the banks' strict requirements for early sale make the dream unfeasible. Without government intervention – the projects will stall, and the destruction will remain. The demolished buildings will not be rebuilt without an emergency financing formula. The demand for early sales is stifling the possibility of evacuation-reconstruction projects. The state must intervene and build a new rehabilitation model.
Compulsory medical treatment – but who will pay?
The demolished buildings: between hope for renewal and a financing trap
In the midst of a period in which rocket barrages have become routine, many of the buildings that were damaged throughout Israel – especially in old areas – have been or will be demolished. Some were built in the 1960s and 1970s, without a standard protected space (MPS), and the apartment owners look to their future in the hope of an evacuation-and-build project or government assistance that will restore their roof over their heads. But there is a fundamental problem that the state has yet to provide a real solution to: building new apartments requires an additional MPS – and this involves a high cost. This is a legal requirement – not a permit – so even when the state participates or the developer is willing to build, the cost of building the MPS falls between the chairs.
The heavy cost of a mandatory upgrade
A building that is demolished and rebuilt according to the 2025 regulations requires the construction of a drywall in each apartment – even if there was none before. But drywall is not drywall – it costs 100–200 thousand NIS per unit , depending on the specifications, area, floor, and quality. So who is supposed to pay for it?
- The state? Has not yet committed.
- The developer? Only if the project is financially viable – which doesn't happen in a market saturated with unsold apartments and declining yields.
- The apartment owner? Why should he pay for the "improvement" that was forced upon him after a disaster?
Reclamation ≠ Compensation: On the one hand, a roof, on the other, an expensive obligation
The requirement for a municipal building creates a paradox: the new apartment is upgraded and protected – but the improvement is forced on the injured party . In a normal case, such an addition is considered a "privilege". Here, it is a regulatory requirement, which makes compensation problematic:
How can you talk about "rehabilitation value" if you are not getting an apartment back with matching specifications but are required to "finance the upgrade"?
Call for an immediate solution: a dedicated fund to finance battalions
In the current security reality – and one that is expected to worsen – the state must establish a dedicated funding fund to fully finance the construction of shelters in reconstruction projects after war damage. Whether through property tax, the Ministry of Defense, or the Ministry of Housing – it is not the role of the family that was rescued from a missile – to finance its next defense.
Bottom line: Without funding for the MMAD – there is no real rehabilitation
Urban renewal after damage is a necessary step, but without a clear solution to the issue of the construction sites – any promise of evacuation-construction or a rehabilitation TAMA will collapse in the face of critical funding constra
