Arnona 2027 Is Set to Jump. Some Bills by 33%

The day belonged to taxes and to planning committees, not to prices.

Israel’s 2027 arnona, the yearly municipal property tax, will rise 3.05% across the whole country before any local decision. On top of that, towns have filed requests for extra rises. Nazareth asked for 30% more. Beit Shean asked for 13.05% on shops and services. Ramat Gan asked for 6.95%. The government missed its own July 1 deadline to publish the rules for judging those requests, so the requests went in with no published yardstick.

Owners had a better day on a second tax. Two separate appeal committees ruled in two days that the betterment levy, the municipal charge on the rise in your land value after a plan is approved, should be lighter. One said it can wait until a building permit is issued. The other said the safe room exemption applies to demolish and rebuild deals, not only to land swap deals.

The state also put 800 homes it built for Gaza border evacuees up for sale at half price. In the north, one city won approval in principle for 5,436 new homes while the city next door had a 1,200 home plan turned down. Haifa cleared 300 apartments and a hotel on top of a shopping mall. Two banks agreed to lend NIS 700 million for a Petah Tikva data center that already holds its permits. And the head of the Tax Authority said out loud that an inheritance tax is being looked at.

Arnona 2027: the default rise is 3.05%, and the rulebook never showed up

Every household in Israel pays arnona to its local authority. Each year a national formula sets a baseline rise, and each town can ask the Interior Ministry for permission to go higher. For 2027 the baseline is 3.05%.

The requests are now in. Ynet, in a report by Gad Lior published on July 30, listed what towns asked for. Maariv reported the same morning that 121 authorities filed exceptional requests.

Two towns went the other way. Or Yehuda asked to cut business arnona by 2% to 12% depending on the property type. Ashkelon asked to cut commercial arnona by 3.05%.

The governance problem is separate and it is real. A second Ynet report says the government never issued the guidance that decides which exceptional requests get approved. That guidance was due by July 1. Avraham Novogrodsky, president of the Manufacturers Association, wrote that letting towns set rates before the rules are published does not match proper administrative practice.

Our math (check it): take a household paying NIS 500 a month in arnona, which is NIS 6,000 a year. Nazareth’s requested total of 33.05% would add about NIS 165 a month, or NIS 1,983 a year. Ramat Gan’s 10% total would add about NIS 50 a month, or NIS 600 a year. Basis: Ynet’s published percentages applied to a NIS 500 monthly bill.

One honest caveat on that 33.05%. Ynet presents the national 3.05% and the local 30% as added together. If a town instead applies its 30% on top of the already updated rate, the true rise is 33.97%, not 33.05%. On our NIS 6,000 bill that is a difference of about NIS 55 a year. Nobody has published which method each town will use, so treat the totals as the towns’ own arithmetic.

Why it matters: arnona is the one housing cost you cannot negotiate. If you are choosing between two towns right now, the 2027 request is a live signal about which one is short of money. We already explain how the yearly formula works in the automatic pilot and how local rules change the final bill in the 2026 arnona shift, so we are not repeating that here.

Two rulings in two days made the betterment levy smaller

The betterment levy is a municipal charge. When an approved plan raises what your land is worth, the city takes half of that rise. Sellers of older apartments often meet it for the first time at closing. We explain the whole mechanism on our levy page, so here is only what changed.

Case one, Holon, July 29. The Tel Aviv district appeal committee, chaired by attorney Eyal Ilouz, rejected an appeal by the Holon local committee. The property was a home on Avshalom Street in the Neve Arazim neighborhood, sold in March 2023 for NIS 2.5 million. The city had assessed about NIS 300,000 in levy, including NIS 291,750 tied to plan CH/619. An appraiser valued the total betterment at about NIS 726,427. The committee held that collection can be pushed to the date the building permit is issued rather than the date of sale, and that in some plots the levy at sale can fall close to zero. Costs of NIS 5,000 were charged against the city. Reported by Magdilim.

Case two, Givat Shmuel, July 30. The Central district appeal committee, chaired by attorney Maya Ashkenazi, ruled unanimously that the safe room levy exemption applies to demolish and rebuild deals too, not only to combination deals. The developer Azorim had been asked for an extra NIS 1.796 million by the Givat Shmuel local committee. The plan, approved in 2019, replaces 112 homes in 9 buildings with 367 homes in 3 towers. Total betterment was valued at NIS 81.3 million. The committee called the distinction between deal types artificial. The local committee withdrew its position. Reported by Merkaz HaNadlan.

Source strength, stated plainly: each ruling comes from one trade outlet. We did not obtain the written decisions, so treat the case details as reported rather than as read by us. The direction of both rulings is the same, and it points the same way as the interagency levy report we covered on July 21.

Why it matters: if you are selling an older apartment in a renewal area, ask your lawyer whether the levy can now wait for the permit. That single question can move six figures at closing. This is a different ruling from the Supreme Court win we reported on July 6, which dealt with building rights that were never used.

The state is selling 800 homes it built for evacuees, at half price

After the October 2023 war, the state built temporary homes for families evacuated from the Gaza border. It spent about NIS 1.1 billion on them. Now the Recovery Administration, the state body running the rebuild, has put 800 of those structures up for sale at 50% off their original cost.

Kibbutzim and communities in the Negev that hosted the evacuees get first refusal. About 100 buildings have already been sold that way, including 40 units to one host community. If demand from the recovery area is thin, the structures pass to the Settlement Division to be rented out elsewhere. Reported by Simi Spolter in TheMarker on July 29.

Our math (check it): NIS 1.1 billion divided by 800 units is about NIS 1.375 million per unit at cost. At the reported 50% discount, a buyer pays roughly NIS 687,500 per unit. The 100 already sold are 12.5% of the batch. Basis: TheMarker’s total spend and unit count, with the discount as reported.

Source strength, stated plainly: one outlet, behind a paywall, and we could not locate the tender document. Treat the figures as TheMarker’s.

Why it matters: these are temporary structures on kibbutz land, not apartments you can buy on the open market. The number worth remembering is the cost. The state paid about NIS 1.375 million per temporary unit. That is a useful yardstick the next time anyone tells you emergency housing is cheap.

One northern city said yes to 5,436 homes. The city next door said no to 1,200

Kiryat Motzkin’s local committee recommended three large renewal plans for deposit on July 29. Deposit is the stage where a plan goes out for public objections, so this is early, not final.

• The Triangle complex, city centre. 3,608 new homes replacing about 668, on 72 dunams, up to 33 floors. Developer: the Chai Nachmias group.
• Kadish Luz complex, east. 1,668 new homes replacing 520, on 45 dunams, near the Kiryon mall. Developer: Gashem Holdings. More than 70% of residents have signed.
• Hashmonaim Street 38. 160 new homes replacing 32, on 7.3 dunams, up to 24 floors. Developer: Naot Motzkin.

Reported by Magdilim. On July 30 the same city produced a smaller, firmer piece of news: Gefen Megurim was chosen to run a demolish and rebuild project of up to 280 homes in place of 52, and said it will put up a maintenance fund for the existing owners. That one was reported by both Bizportal and Funder on July 30.

Our math (check it): add the three deposit plans together and 5,436 new homes replace 1,220 existing ones. That is about 4.5 new homes for every old one, and a net gain of 4,216 homes in a single small city. Basis: 3,608 plus 1,668 plus 160 new, against 668 plus 520 plus 32 existing.

Now the contrast. On July 30 the Haifa district committee rejected the Kadmat Bialik plan, which proposed about 1,200 homes on the last land reserve in eastern Kiryat Bialik. Colbo Haifa reported the rejection. The plan’s developer was Gashem Holdings, the same company behind the Kadish Luz complex approved for deposit in Kiryat Motzkin a day earlier. The objections were already public: back in February, Magdilim and Merkaz HaNadlan reported that the Haifa district planner, Ronen Segel, had written that the plan could not advance because the area lacked a master plan and had sewage and road shortfalls, and that Mayor Eli Dukorsky had said flatly that it would not be approved.

Source strength, stated plainly: the rejection itself was carried by one outlet today. The plan’s identity, size, developer and the reasons against it are confirmed by two earlier independent reports.

Why it matters: two towns, five kilometres apart, one developer, opposite answers in 24 hours. Renewal risk is not about the company. It is about whether the city has a master plan and the pipes to match. Before you buy into any renewal project, run the checks on our risk page. For background on why Kiryat Motzkin keeps appearing, see our earlier piece on the city.

Haifa is putting 300 apartments and a hotel on top of a shopping mall

The Haifa district planning and building committee approved a plan to build above the Grand Canyon mall in the Neve Shaanan neighbourhood. The plan adds 300 homes, four floors of hotel and conference space, and more retail and workspace. A residential tower goes up over the existing mall, set against the hillside. The petrol station beside the mall moves, and a second tower with ground floor shops takes its place. The mall roof opens for culture and leisure use, and the plan improves the underground pedestrian passage and the link to Nahal Giborim.

The plan is promoted by Shopping Centres Ltd, part of the Azrieli group. Reported on July 29 by Merkaz HaNadlan and Haipo.

Why it matters: this is what Israeli cities are doing instead of finding new land. Homes go on top of car parks and malls. If you are buying near a big mall, check whether its owner has filed a plan. Your view and your building site could change. Haifa’s wider renewal push is covered in our July 5 report.

Two banks are lending NIS 700 million for a data centre that already has its permits

Bank Hapoalim and Discount Bank will split a NIS 700 million loan to build a data centre in Kiryat Aryeh, Petah Tikva. The site is about 10 dunams and the facility is sized at 18 megawatts. MedOne holds 50% of the project. Mabni Real Estate and Digital Realty Trust hold 25% each. Expected yearly net operating income, meaning rent income after running costs, is about NIS 80 million. Completion is set for the end of 2027. The loan runs about seven years including construction, at Prime plus 1% to 2%.

The detail that matters: the project already holds every permit it needs. Reported on July 30 by Merkaz HaNadlan, TheMarker and by ice.

That NIS 80 million on 18 megawatts is about NIS 4.4 million of income per megawatt per year (our arithmetic, from the reported figures).

Why it matters: nine days ago the electricity regulator froze new grid hookups for large data centres for 140 days, which we reported in our July 21 brief. This project is proof of the split that freeze created. Permitted sites just became far more valuable than unpermitted land. If you own or are buying land marketed for data centre use, the permit status is now the whole story.

Rehovot approved 5 villas where 17 flats were planned, after 13 years

Owners at Sirni Street 30 to 32 in eastern Rehovot first filed a plan in 2013. Around 2023 the city adopted a street policy allowing up to 9 floors. The owners refiled and the local committee rejected them. About a month ago the district appeal committee ruled for the owners, calling the delay of more than 13 years extreme and exceptional, and directed the city to advance dense building without waiting for comprehensive planning.

On July 30 the Rehovot local committee approved 5 ground attached villas instead of the 17 apartment building, saying the area still needs a master plan. The owners’ lawyer, Michal Galkin Golan, says the city broke the appeal committee’s direction and the fight is heading to court. Reported by Magdilim.

Why it matters: the same plot, 17 homes or 5. That is 71% fewer homes from one committee vote. Anyone buying a plot in Israel on the strength of an appeal committee win should know that a win on paper is not a permit. For the local market picture, see our Rehovot guide.

Source strength, stated plainly: one outlet, with named parties and a named street, so it is checkable, but we have not read the committee file.

The tax chief said the quiet part out loud

Shai Aharonovich runs the Israel Tax Authority. Speaking on 103FM, he said the Authority is looking at new revenue and named what is on the table. In his words, the Authority wants to be original and is “examining steps like property tax, perhaps inheritance tax, and eliminating some major exemptions.” He said the years 2027 to 2029 will not be easy, because defence spending is up.

Reported on July 29 by Maariv and by Israel Hayom.

Read that carefully, because two of the three items are already familiar and one is not. A property tax on empty land has been discussed for months, and we covered that push in February. An inheritance tax is different. Israel has not levied one since 1981. He said “perhaps,” so this is a signal, not a bill. He also did not say which exemptions he means, and we are not going to guess.

Why it matters: if you are an oleh or a foreign resident holding Israeli property inside a family estate plan, the plan you built assumed no Israeli inheritance tax. Nothing has changed yet. But this is the first time the head of the tax collection agency has put it on a public list. Our pages on inheriting Israeli property as a foreigner and selling an inherited property set out the rules as they stand today.

Amidar’s 2025 report: senior housing grew 71% in one year, profit did not

Amidar is the state housing company. Israel owns about 99.99% of it, and it manages public housing and the state’s senior housing homes. Its 2025 periodic report was summarised on July 30 by News1. The numbers matter to anyone weighing senior housing in Israel, because Amidar is now a much bigger operator than it was a year ago.

Total 2025 income across all activities was about NIS 468.8 million, of which about NIS 356.2 million came from permanent public housing and about NIS 49.7 million from senior housing. Amidar manages about 35,000 public housing units and about 4,100 Development Authority properties. It pays no ordinary dividend. Under its management agreement it must deposit half its yearly net profit into a fund for public housing upkeep, and on March 26, 2026 its board approved depositing and using about NIS 27.2 million from that fund, subject to the Government Companies Authority.

The war work is in the report too. Amidar rehabilitated about 1,000 apartments it manages in Kiryat Shmona and Shlomi, plus about 300 it does not manage, all damaged by rocket fire. It repaired 60 public buildings in those two towns, made dozens of public shelters usable across the north and in Lod, Kiryat Gat and Beer Sheva, moved senior housing residents out of Netivot and Ofakim to Dead Sea hotels, and worked with the Recovery Administration to house about 850 households from Gaza border communities.

Senior capacity per home barely moved: about 89 units per home in 2025 against about 87 in 2024 (our arithmetic). So this was growth by taking on more buildings, not by filling existing ones harder. Income per public housing unit works out at about NIS 10,177 a year, or roughly NIS 848 a month (our arithmetic, dividing NIS 356.2 million by 35,000 units).

Why it matters: if you are looking at state senior housing for a parent, the supply just grew by 24 homes in a year while the operator’s margins fell by a third. More places, thinner money for upkeep. Ask any home you tour who funds its maintenance and from which budget. Our guides to housing and senior living in Israel and senior living options cover how the private and state tracks differ. If the name Amidar is new to you, see our note on Tabu, Minhal and Amidar.

One date note: this is Amidar’s full year 2025 report, reported in the press today. It is not fresh 2026 data.

What we checked today and did not publish

Three items looked like news and failed our checks. We are naming them so you do not act on them if you see them elsewhere.

• “Israelis’ intention to buy a home collapsed 55%, per the Central Bureau of Statistics.” This was circulating today. We traced it to a Facebook post by a housing protest page, not to any Bureau release. Dropped.
• An Israel Land Authority tender for 1,260 homes in Netanya opening for bids on July 29. The tender registry shows the opening date. The Authority’s own tender detail page for the same tender says it has not opened and no booklet has been published. Contradictory, so dropped.
• A missile damaged Bank Leumi building in Kiryat Shmona sold for NIS 5.4 million. One outlet, and we could not open the article to check the buyer, size or price per square metre. Dropped.

Four more items are real but reached us from one trade outlet each, and we did not get to a second source or a primary document before publishing. We are naming them so nothing is hidden: a Jerusalem court rejected petitions against a very tall tower near a military cemetery and separately against the Epstein compound plan; the Jerusalem district committee gave final approval to 130 homes with shops and workspace in Gilo; and a winner was picked in a target price tender for 100 homes plus commercial space in Maalot for about NIS 15 million. We will carry any of these forward once we can confirm them properly.

We also held back a Knesset vote on levy exemptions for solar panels over farmland. Different outlets described it as a one year temporary exemption from the betterment levy and as an exemption from drainage and paving levies until the end of 2030. Those are two different laws, and the vote fell just outside our 24 hour window. We will report it properly once the two are separated.

Sources

• Ynet, July 30 and Ynet on the 2027 arnona requests and the missing guidance. Maariv, July 30, on 121 authorities filing (article URL not confirmed live).
• Magdilim, July 29 on the Holon betterment levy ruling.
• Merkaz HaNadlan, July 30 on the Givat Shmuel safe room levy ruling.
• TheMarker, July 29 on the 800 evacuee homes.
• Magdilim, July 29 on the Kiryat Motzkin deposit plans, with Bizportal and Funder, July 30, on the Gefen Megurim selection (article URLs not confirmed live).
• Colbo Haifa, July 30, on the Kiryat Bialik rejection, with Magdilim and Merkaz HaNadlan on the plan’s background.
• Merkaz HaNadlan and Haipo, July 29, on the Grand Canyon Haifa plan.
• Merkaz HaNadlan and TheMarker, July 30, on the Petah Tikva data centre loan.
• Magdilim, July 30 on the Rehovot villas decision.
• Maariv and Israel Hayom, July 29, on the Tax Authority director’s remarks.
• News1, July 30 on Amidar’s 2025 periodic report.
• Israel Land Authority tender registry, checked directly on July 30 for newly published and newly opened tenders.