Grant an Extension for Iran War Evacuees to Remain in Hotels

The scene of an Iranian missile strike in Ramat Gan, June 2025. Photo: Yossi Zamir, Shatil-Stock

In the outline regarding evacuation and compensation published by the Tax Authority for those whose homes were damaged during the war with Iran, it was determined that those evacuated to hotels would be required to leave them on August 1, 2025. Evacuees have until then to find places to live, and must bear the cost of rent and renovating their homes themselves. The state is supposed to reimburse them within 30 to 90 days. 

A month after the end of the war with Iran, approximately 10,000 people remain without homes, and involuntarily remain in the hotels to which they were evacuated. Many are from socioeconomically vulnerable populations, including the elderly and single mothers, and cannot bear the heavy economic burden imposed on them by the compensation plan, which requires them to pay thousands and tens of thousands of shekels out of pocket before receiving reimbursement from the state. Evacuees were given the option to request postponement of the evacuation date, but from dozens of appeals that reached ACRI, it appears that these requests are being rejected wholesale, and without any rationale given. Many evacuees who have no alternative shelter have also reported rude and dismissive treatment from Tax Authority officials. The situation of elderly evacuees is particularly dire: some are immigrants who do not speak Hebrew, and some have difficulty submitting online applications for compensation payments and hotel stay extensions. 

On July 27, 2025, ACRI appealed to the Tax Authority director and the Minister of Finance requesting an extension for the deadline set for evacuees to leave the hotels, and to advance the payments due to evacuees for apartment rentals and home renovation. In the appeal, Yael Seidemann from ACRI’s legal department argued that under the circumstances, leaving the evacuation deadline as is would essentially be throwing evacuees into the street, and is arbitrary and unreasonable. She also mentioned the commitment made by the head of the Tax Authority during a discussion held in the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee at the height of the Iran War, that a resident who must evacuate and remains without shelter would not be removed from a hotel without the existence of a suitable alternative.  

ACRI's appeal, July 27, 2025 (Heb) 

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