Sunday brought the first real business news after a quiet Shabbat, and the theme was the state itself: what it sells, what it buys, and who runs the office that does the selling. The biggest number came from the Israel Land Authority (the state body that markets public land for building). In the first half of 2026 it put out land for far fewer homes than a year before. On a separate track, the government quietly started the machinery to buy out apartments wrecked in the war, giving those owners a cash exit instead of a long wait for a rebuild. And in the business ring, control of one of Israel’s largest mall owners changed hands for 661 million shekels.
Three numbers we worked out (check them): the state marketed land for 8,183 fewer homes this half than last, which drops the pace from about 2,652 homes’ worth of land a month to about 1,288, less than half. The war-damage buyout is priced on a brand new apartment, which the reported data puts roughly 29 to 56 percent above a used one, so on a 2,000,000 shekel used flat a Tel Aviv style valuation near 56 percent would imply about 3,120,000 shekels, roughly 1,120,000 more. And the mall deal was struck about 30 percent above the company’s recent market price. More on each below.
The backdrop we already track (markers only): the long split we cover in why the market is splitting, not crashing is still the frame, and the supply squeeze sits inside the deepening housing freeze. The Bank of Israel decides on interest rates on Monday, July 6, at 16:00, with a fresh forecast and the rate at 3.75 percent since late May. The next official price index lands Wednesday, July 15. The 11th discounted housing lottery draw is still being processed, with results going out to registrants in early July.
The state marketed land for half as many new homes this year
The story most buyers will not see, but should, is upstream of any price chart. It is about how much land the state let out for building. Almost all new housing in Israel starts on state land, so when the Israel Land Authority slows down, the shortage of the future is being written now.
According to Land Authority figures reported by TheMarker, the state marketed land for 7,728 housing units in the first half of 2026. In the same six months of 2025 the figure was 15,911 units. That is a fall of just over 51 percent, roughly cut in half, in one year.
One honest caveat keeps this from being a scare headline. The first half of 2025 was already weak, because a dispute between the Land Authority and the Treasury froze many tenders early that year and pushed the marketing into later months. So this is a drop below a bar that was already low, not a fall from a booming year. Even so, half of a weak number is a thin pipeline.
Our figures (check them): 15,911 minus 7,728 is 8,183 fewer homes’ worth of land put to market in six months. Spread across the half year, that is about 1,288 units a month in 2026 against about 2,652 a month in 2025. Land marketed today is homes that arrive years from now, so a lean first half is a supply gap that shows up around the end of the decade.
Sitting behind the slowdown is a leadership vacuum at the top of the Land Authority. The appointment of Yehuda Eliyahu, an associate of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, as director of the authority is being fought in the High Court. On Sunday the court held a live hearing but did not rule; it heard the arguments and reserved its decision. The Attorney General has refused to defend the appointment and asked that it be voided. In an unusual twist, the state approved about 100,000 shekels to pay a private lawyer to argue for the appointment, against the state’s own position. We do not re-explain that saga here; the full background is in our piece on the fight over the Land Authority chief, and how state land actually reaches builders is in the tender portal explainer.
Why it matters: if you are a buyer waiting for more supply to cool prices, this is the quiet warning that the tap upstream is half open. If you are an investor, a thin land pipeline supports land and project values that are already in the ground. And if you follow the politics, note that the office deciding how fast land moves has no settled boss, which is part of why the numbers look the way they do.
The state started buying out war-damaged apartments
A second state action moved from law to real life this weekend. The government began the appraisals needed to buy apartments that were damaged in the war, so owners can take cash and walk away instead of waiting years for their building to be rebuilt.
Ynet reported that the Government Appraisal Department in the Justice Ministry, led by chief government appraiser Gil Balulu, has begun preparing purchase valuations for about 1,000 apartments. They sit in four damaged complexes: Yoseftal in Dimona, Tlalim in Arad, Teller-Bilu in Rehovot, and Yehuda HaLevi in Tel Aviv. More cities, including Ramat Gan, Bnei Brak, Bat Yam, and Haifa, are expected to follow.
Here is how the choice works. The apartments fall under a law that rebuilds war-damaged blocks through urban renewal (tearing down and building new). Each owner gets two paths. Stay in the project and receive a brand new apartment when it is finished, or take the exit and get cash now, set by an official appraisal. Owners have 15 working days to file their papers, and the appraiser must deliver a value within about 40 working days.
Two numbers deserve care. The 1,000 figure is how many apartments the state must now value, not how many it will end up buying, because many owners will choose the new apartment instead of the cash. And the cash is not the old, pre-war price. The valuation is built on the price of a new apartment of the same size, with a safe room, parking, and a balcony where the original had them. That new build basis runs well above a used flat.
Our figure (check it, illustration only): the reported gap between a new and a used apartment ran about 29 percent in Ramat Gan, 32 percent in Bat Yam, and up to about 56 percent in Tel Aviv. Take a used apartment worth 2,000,000 shekels. A Tel Aviv style new build basis near 56 percent would put the buyout value around 3,120,000 shekels, about 1,120,000 more than the used price. This is our own illustration from the reported premiums, not an official quote for any specific home. We do not re-explain the law itself; that is in our guide to the war-damage rebuild law.
Why it matters: if you own a damaged apartment in one of these complexes, the clock is now real: a short window to file, then a formal cash offer to weigh against waiting for a new home. If you are a buyer or investor watching these towns, a wave of state-funded buyouts can put freed-up apartments and rebuilt blocks into the market over the next few years.
A NIS 661 million move for control of mall owner G City
The day’s largest single deal was in commercial property, not housing, but it shows where big money is moving. Control of G City, one of Israel’s largest owners of shopping centers, is changing hands.
Ari Real Estate, controlled by Tzachi Abu, agreed to buy a 26 percent stake in G City from Norstar Holdings, the company controlled by veteran investor Chaim Katzman, for 661 million shekels. That works out to 14.95 shekels a share for about 44.2 million shares. The deal comes with an option to buy a further 7 percent for another 192 to 204 million shekels, which would lift the buyer to about 33 percent. The two sides also agreed to lead a capital raise of about 1 billion shekels into G City.
This is a real change of control, not a rumor. It is distinct from the June report that Katzman was only looking for a buyer; now there is a named buyer, a price, and terms. G City owns income-producing assets, mainly malls and shopping centers in Israel, Europe, North America, and Brazil, so this is a bet on retail landlords, not on apartments.
Our figure (check it): at 14.95 a share, the buyer is paying about 30 percent over G City’s recent market price. The company’s market value was about 1.96 billion shekels, and the deal prices the whole company near 2.55 billion. That premium is about 3.45 shekels a share, or roughly 590 million shekels across the full company. (Note: some early Hebrew coverage rounded the premium up to 32 percent; the cleaner read against the market price is a bit above 30 percent.)
Why it matters: for most home buyers this one is context, not a to-do. But a control fight and a 1 billion shekel raise at a major mall owner is a live signal that patient, deep-pocketed money still sees value in Israeli property, even as small buyers sit out the housing market.
Also cleared a planning step this week
Two smaller renewal projects hit real milestones on Sunday. We keep these short because Israel approves plans like these most weeks, and we do not want to repeat a beat the site already covers well.
- Rishon LeZion, 380 apartments. The Yitzhaki Group reached the tenant majority it needs for an evacuation and rebuild project in the Kadmat Rishon area, opposite the city cemetery, replacing about 100 old apartments with 380. Reaching majority is the point where a renewal project stops being a wish and starts being a plan. This fits the bigger picture in Rishon’s renewal wave. (Single source so far: Merkaz HaNadlan.)
- Old Katamon, Jerusalem, 100 apartments. The Jerusalem District Committee gave final validity to a plan by developer Beit Yerushalmi to replace 40 old units with 100 new ones on 29 November Street, in two low towers. Getting district validity means the plan can now move toward permits. See the wider test for the neighborhood in our Katamon renewal piece. (Single source so far: Merkaz HaNadlan.)
What we checked and left out
A careful desk says what did not clear the bar, so the day is not padded with soft items:
- A Jerusalem land injunction near the King David Hotel. One outlet reported that a court blocked the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate from selling about 5 dunam to an offshore company, with Israeli investors invoking a 1999 deal. It is a striking story, but it ran in a single outlet, we found no independent confirmation of this specific order, and the report’s own timeline did not line up cleanly. We are holding it until a second source or the court record confirms it.
- An Ashkelon mega-plan and a north Rehovot plan. A 2,495-apartment Afridar renewal plan resurfaced in the feed, but it is from February 2026, not this week. A claimed 2,600-home north Rehovot plan did not check out and appears to be a mix-up with a project in another city. Both dropped.
- A Bnei Brak revival. A report said the Land Authority is reviving a 17-year-old plan and raising it from about 92 homes to 947. We could confirm it in only one outlet and could not pin its date, so we are not running it as today’s news.
Dates to watch
- Monday, July 6, 16:00: Bank of Israel interest rate decision, with a fresh staff forecast. The rate has held at 3.75 percent since late May, and some analysts expect a cut.
- Wednesday, July 15, 18:30: the next official home price index, plus June inflation, which includes the housing and rent components.
- Rolling, early July: results of the 11th discounted housing lottery going out to registrants. No draw was confirmed as of Sunday.
- Now open: the 15 working day filing window for owners of war-damaged apartments in Dimona, Arad, Rehovot, and Tel Aviv who want the cash buyout.
