Executive Summary: While we are sleeping in our warm beds tonight, many people in Israel – men and women, single people and families, youth and the elderly – will not have a proper bed of their own. Some will be sleeping in parks, streets, construction sites or bomb shelters; some in one-night hostels or shelters for the homeless. Some will find temporary refuge with acquaintances or spend the night at their place of work, not knowing what tomorrow will bring. And some will sleep in places unfit for human habitation. This position paper examines Israel’s current policies for the homeless, policies with serious oversights that have led to violations of the human rights of the homeless in Israel.
Homelessness is a dynamic, usually temporary, phenomenon that is affected by many factors. The term “homelessness” describes a broad range of circumstances that must be addressed together – from living in conditions unfit for human habitation, unsafe or temporary housing, hostels for the homeless or other institutional settings, to sleeping rough on the streets. A variety of factors increases the risk that an individual will become homeless: structural factors such as an economic crisis or the shortage of affordable housing; high-risk events such as a family crisis or deinstitutionalization; and membership in groups-at-risk such as youth without family support, immigrants, or those addicted to psychoactive substances. Sound policies must take this range of circumstances into consideration and address the social and housing aspects of all these situations.
For full report in Hebrew click here
For summary of the report in English click here
