GAZA ROCKETS CAUSED $14 MILLION IN DAMAGE TO ISRAELI BUILDINGS

Head of the Renovation Contractors Association Eran Siv says government must shoulder the cost for citizens to rebuild their damaged homes to a higher safety standard

by Gilad Zwick

Israel Hayom
May 7, 2019

Buildings in southern Israel sustained some 50 million shekels ($14 million) of damage in the escalation of the last few days, the Renovation Contractors Association says.

Chairman of the RCA Eran Siv explained Monday that buildings in the south of the country are inherently more vulnerable than buildings in central Israel.

“Most of the homes in the [southern] area have tiled roofs, so the damage in the case of a direct hit, or even a rocket falling nearby, is much bigger than to a building that has a concrete roof,” Siv told Israel Hayom.

“A tile roof doesn’t prevent or stop a rocket from entering, so the damage caused to the structure and the inside of an apartment is much greater,” he explained.

The recent round of violence saw about 35 rockets and mortars land in populated areas. In some cases, the strikes caused massive damage to the surrounding buildings.

According to Siv, renovations assessed at 43,000 shekels or less can be completed by any contractor, whereas more expensive repairs require property owners to hire a contractor registered with the Construction and Housing Ministry. In cases where a rocket strike caused a fire, the renovation is more costly.

Siv laid out the options for property owners whose assets were damaged by the violence: “The first step is for a property tax adjuster to assess the damage. Then, it is repaired. In cases of relatively minor damage, the owner can hire a contractor and then file a request for reimbursement with the property tax authorities, but for large-scale work, the construction companies do all the work without ‘civilians’ having to lay out a penny.”

Siv also argues that the government must allow any property owner whose home was damaged in the attacks to rebuild to a higher safety standard and that the government must shoulder all the costs.

“I’m calling on the prime minister and the cabinet to consider the families’ difficult situation and allow them to go back to a stronger, better-defended home and not have to make do with an approval for the minimum renovation necessary to restore the building to its former state,” he said.

As of Monday afternoon, the Israel Tax Authority – whose property tax division handles requests for compensation for damage caused by war – had received 291 requests to cover the cost of repairs to buildings in southern Israel. The largest number of requests were for buildings in Ashkelon (142), followed by Ashdod (79), Sderot (24) and Kiryat Gat (20).

In addition, 137 requests were filed for compensation for damages to vehicles and seven requests were filed for compensation for damage to farm crops. The ITA approved 70% of the requests for compensation and expects the total number of requests to reach 600.