Legislative committee axes Public Housing Law

Finance minister pledges to keep pushing bill; opposition centered on clause that would send some money to rental assistance rather than building new projects

Yair Lapid (center), and Tzipi Livni (right), with Moshe Ya'alon (left) at a 2013 cabinet meeting. (photo credit: Emil Salman/Pool/Flash90)
Yair Lapid (center), and Tzipi Livni (right), with Moshe Ya'alon (left) at a 2013 cabinet meeting. (photo credit: Emil Salman/Pool/Flash90)

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Monday rejected the Public Housing bill after its sponsors, Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) and Housing Minster Uri Ariel (Jewish Home), withdrew their support for the bill they themselves had proposed.

The intention of the bill was to give public housing tenants the option of purchasing their apartments. According to the proposal, the money made from the apartment sales would have been used to build more public housing, to provide rental assistance to those in need and to renovate existing public housing projects.

However, committee members from Hatnua, led by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who heads the committee, and Yisrael Beytenu, led by Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver, sought to change the bill so that the funds would be used exclusively for building more public housing.

When it became clear that a majority of committee members supported that change, Lapid and Ariel withdrew their own support for the bill. Lapid announced soon afterwards that he intended to bring the bill to the full Knesset for approval.

Meretz party faction head Ilan Gilon excoriated the finance minister, saying that “once again, Lapid’s bluff has been exposed.”

The original Public Housing Law, written by former Meretz MK Ran Cohen, was passed into legislation 14 years ago, but the Knesset had it frozen until now.

Ariel slammed Livni, saying that she “apparently opposes public housing.”

According to Ariel, “we wanted to help public housing tenants be able to purchase the homes in which they live, and the funds from the apartments that are sold would be earmarked exclusively for public housing and for those whose socioeconomic situation is the weakest.”

Explaining her support of eliminating the clause, Livni said that “funding of rent for those eligible cannot come at the expense of public housing in Israel.”

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