How the squatters won
Squatting on public land: It's quick to do; government authorities go easy on offenders, and even the law is on their side – just look at Givat Shmuel, Katida and other communities
Squatting has become a national plague in the last few years. These little annexations of public land by both the rich and poor have eaten away at all the choice parts.
Squatting is easy to do and it pays: All one has to do is to takeover some land and bank on the leniency of the local authorities in enforcing the law.
Before long, what started off as a temporary, easily rectified incidence of squatting becomes a deeply rooted reality.
Then, when a private investor or the government arrives to build on the stolen property, it will end up having to bribe the squatters to leave.
However, these government payouts to evictees merely encourage the phenomenon.
An illegal neighborhood, a squatters' community
In the 1950s, residents of the Arab village of Salameh started to expand into the illegal southern Tel Aviv neighborhood of Kfar Shalem.
By the end of the 1960s, the Halamish construction company sought to remove the squatters but was stymied for over three decades.
In April of this year, two families left after being giving money to buy another home on the open market.
Halamish director-general Eitan Padan is hardly happy about the outcome.
"There are people who specialize in squatting, and it pays because there are enormous profits without any legal sanction," he said.
The pastoral community of Kadita, near Safed, is one giant squatters' camp that began on property of the Israel Lands Administration (ILA) in the 1990s.
The village attracts oddballs, nature-lovers, loners, and newly religious Jews seeking to live near the tomb of Rabbi Tarfon, located at the entrance of Kadita.
So far, the ILA has managed to evict 80 families, but a hard-core group of 35 families remain.
Nissim Navaro, who represents some of the families in legal proceedings, said, "The law is subject to a looser interpretation than you are giving. In this situation, we are talking about people who cannot be helped by any of the housing solutions offered to them."
He said that his clients have no where else to go and cannot rent apartments with their own money.
The government has recently decided to turn Kadita legal, but it is still in the planning stages. In the end, squatting paid off.
The statistics
An ILA report obtained by Ynet noted that in 2004, there were 1,044 identified cases of squatting, 425 cases of illegal construction – despite the increase in government land policing.
The report also did not include squatting on local council property.
According to Yisrael Skope, director of the ILA's supervisory department, "It is very hard to protect state lands, most are not cared for or zoned. There are at the margins and not paid attention to. Anyone could set up a home on some terraced hilltop."
The law is also very forgiving to squatters.
In 2000, an investment company wanted to build 300 housing units on an olive orchard in Givat Shmuel. However, the Alperon Family, which has both Likud Party and allegedly gangland ties, operates an illegal horse ranch there.
The protocol of the regional council that dealt with the issue read, "One of the problems involves the eviction of the Alperon Family which live in the are. The residences are illegal, but they maintain tenure over the land and that is a nuisance."
In the end, the investor made due with only 87 housing units to avoid a drawn-out legal battle.
Eitan Padan: 'Squatting pays'
צילום: שאול גולן
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