Ignored Appeals from Evacuated Residents of Sderot

Photo: Gali Bessido, Shatil-Stok

On February 2, 2025, the Association for Civil Rights submitted a petition to the Ministry of Tourism on behalf of four residents from Sderot who were evacuated from their city days after the war began. These residents, who were dealing with the effects of being displaced from their homes, were then denied the housing grants they were entitled to, or discovered that they had accumulated debt with the National Insurance Institute due to incorrect reporting about their hotel stays. Appeals they submitted to the Ministry of Tourism regarding the incorrect reports remained unanswered for many months—sometimes even over a year. In our petition, we demanded that the Minister of Tourism exercise his authority and direct the Ministry of Tourism to establish clear and transparent procedures and criteria for ruling on the appeals submitted by residents. 

The petition noted that appeals from residents of Sderot and Kiryat Shmona (another city that was evacuated) regarding incorrect reporting from hotels have been pending with the Ministry of Tourism for many months without having received a response, even in cases where there is clear evidence that the residents did not stay at a hotel. It was further noted that there are no criteria for ruling on the appeals submitted by residents, and there are no guidelines regarding which documents residents need to submit to support their appeal. This violates the obligation of the Minister of Interior and the Ministry to make decisions based on transparent and clear criteria, and act fairly and efficiently. 

In a response submitted in June 2025, the Ministry of Tourism claimed that it lacks the expertise and authority to decide factual disputes or examine and analyze evidence, and therefore it cannot handle appeals. According to the Ministry, decisions regarding appeals by residents from Sderot and Kiryat Shmona requires judicial authority that would need to be established by legislation. In our response, ACRI emphasized the absurdity of the state's answer: we noted that the state is both authorized to carry out these activities and actually does so, both routinely and in emergencies; moreover, it is obligated regardless to examine the appeals and decide on them before transferring payment to hotels, in order to avoid wasting public funds.

ACRI further argued against the unacceptable conduct of the Ministry of Tourism, which invited evacuees to submit appeals using a form on the ministry's website, and for 20 months gave the false impression that it intended to review the appeals and decide on them.

HCJ 2711-02-25 Kakon et al. v. Tourism Attorneys: Tal Hassin, Avner Pinchuk 

The petition (Heb) 

Preliminary response from the Ministry of Tourism, June 2025 (Heb)

Petitioners' response, August 2025 (Heb)

For a list of articles (Hebrew) about this case, see here