A Demand to Pay a Fee to Set Up an Information Booth in Modiin

BANKI information booth (archive). Photo: dovblog, CC BY-SA 2.0, Flickr

ACRI contacted the Modiin-Maccabim-Reut Municipality on July 13, 2025 after activists from the Communist Youth Union in Israel (BANKI) were required to pay a fee to receive a permit to set up an information booth in downtown Modiin. The permit application form states that the fee is "in accordance with what is stipulated in the municipal bylaws," but an examination by ACRI revealed that the requirement applies only to business owners.

In the letter, Attorney Eden Gilad, ACRI's Freedom of Protest Coordinator, wrote that the demand that BANKI activists, youth movement members who do not operate for profit, was made without legal authority and raises concerns about misleading the public. She requested clarification regarding whether there is a source in the municipality's bylaws for the requirement to pay a fee, and, if not, to receive confirmation that an error was made and that the activists do not need to pay in order to set up their booth. 

ACRI's letter, July 13, 2025 (Heb) 

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