NIF grantee The Forum for Public Housing wrote a letter to Israel’s Minister of Construction and Housing Yitzhak Goldknopf explaining that evictions are being carried out through unfair proceedings and public housing tenants are being denied their right to legal representation. 

The letter demands that Goldknopf halt the evictions from public housing. Evictions have been on the rise in the last few months—since Goldknopf took office. Critically, many of the evicted tenants were unable to defend their rights in court. The letter cites a previous ruling by Supreme Court Judge Yosef Elron who stated clearly that a public housing tenant should not be evicted before all procedures for ensuring their rights have been exhausted. 

Forum for Public Housing lawyers wrote to Goldknopf, “The lawyers of the public housing companies exploit the huge advantage they have over unrepresented tenants and use the rules of legal procedure to obtain judgments in the absence of any defense by the tenants who do not know how to protect themselves and are not represented.”

The Forum for Public Housing urged Goldknopf to impose a complete freeze on all evictions for which a full rights review was not performed by a lawyer.

In the past, the Supreme Court has condemned the unjust practices of state-owned public housing company Amidar and has exposed the way that it legally abuses its tenants. NIF has always seen public housing as a major tool for promoting equality in Israeli society.