The Marker, Yael Drel, Gili Melnicki, 06.03.2020

About two and a half years have passed since Haim Avitan was appointed chairman of the governmental authority for urban renewal. In addition, he is considered one of the well-known and veteran Likud activists in his city.

However, despite the time since his appointment to the PA, it is evident that Avitan is still uncomfortable in his chair.During the interview, he occasionally glances at the data sheet he has prepared ahead of time and makes sure to repeat numbers that he thinks are the story of the government's success. It is not hard to guess where this vigilance comes from. His appointment was accompanied by public criticism from Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit for investigations conducted against him at the end of his term as mayor. Even before personal criticism of his appointment subsided, Avitan also had to face professional criticism of the PA's functioning, necessity and manner of conduct.

Communication has not made you an easy life from day one.

" There is an unreasonable situation here. The government made a decision to establish this authority, which has a national mission to lead an urban renewal. When I got the job, they were given a room and told me 'go ahead, start working.' Despite the bureaucracy in Israel, within seven to eight months we set up here We have not been able to do anything yet and there are already unnecessary publications. There are people who are not knowledgeable and do not make great efforts here and there are serious professionals here, so publications like 'do not need the authority' or 'divide here' And I wrote a lot of things. I mention that poor tenants who had previously signed contracts on urban renewal projects were not An approach. We became even address them as well as for authorities and entrepreneurs. "

We will also come to the criticism that accompanied your appointment, but let's talk about the PA for a moment: You don't have "teeth", you formulate a policy that is on the recommendation standard, the public doesn't really know you and you haven't really made a change.

"We don't have 'teeth'? There are dozens of local authorities who have been calling out for NIS 105 million in funding and planning. This is not a pipe to transfer money, but a change we are promoting. In the past, the Ministry of Construction and Housing would give money to a particular municipality and it would decide whether to promote "We were planning non-economic projects - and they weren't going to be implemented. In the new process we are leading, there is a calling, and we are funding seven planning teams in coordination with the local authority. We have already started in many authorities. This is happening."

But these two and a half years you are dealing with mayors who do not want urban renewal at all and do not have the tools to manage it in their place.

"This is a situation that is repeated in many cities, including Ramat Gan and Bat Yam. It is inconceivable that an entrepreneur will plan a project and invest millions, associate tenants with dreams and even get planning institutions approval - and then a new mayor will come and order him to stop. "That is, if a plan has been passed by a local committee, it needs to move forward. Right now, this law is having difficulties."

So, in the absence of a law that would help - do you have any intention of producing a bypass for mayors?

"No, because we are a democratic state. Mayors are elected, and it is not appropriate for the central government to go against the local government, so we have no intention of overriding them. Our job is to shorten their processes. I have no desire to bypass mayors, what wisdom to go against? Explain to them why it is worth promoting urban renewal and doing social justice. If we set aside Tel Aviv and the strong strata, it is a first-class social issue. The renewal needs to reach Tiberias and Beit Shean. "

These are slogans. In practice, the revitalization skips Tiberias and Beit Shean, because it doesn't pay off for entrepreneurs. Does the state intend to reach into the pocket and help the periphery?

"My national mission is to inherit the entire country in plans. My budget today is NIS 100 million, and we have applied for it to be increased to NIS 250 million. I am building on the government, but do not know if it can give me everything I need, so I work In other avenues to find financing - through the National Lottery and JNF. I am optimistic, we are in the midst of a planning process with many authorities - Eilat, Ashkelon, Jisr a Zarqa, Beer Sheva, Tiberias, Taibeh. These are things that never happened before. I estimate that the state will have to give half a billion shekels a year over 20 years to rebuild the country. "

"The decision to cancel TAMA 38 created unnecessary pressure in the market"

In the meantime, you want planning certainty, but you seem to have no control over the market. You were in favor of TAMA 38, but the Planning Administration canceled it.

"A day will come and in evacuation projects they will get a flat for a flat. A lot of authorities are already adjusting to a 12 square meter limit, because there is no reason to produce monstrous projects here."

"Our position is that MGA 38 was designed to save lives, but we were not surprised by the decision to cancel the plan. We coordinate with the Administration. To me, the decision created a noise and pressure that did no good to the industry, and it was better to give the market two or three years before it came into effect. In the end, they were given three years, and later there would be a better plan to replace it. "

So where do you feel you have succeeded in moving significant steps into the industry?

"One of the most important steps that will be approved soon and allow for planning certainty is the sweeping determination of a 25 percent improvement levy on urban renewal projects. Today, entrepreneurs do not know what they charge, and to exempt projects from the improvement levy requires approval from the city council, subject to approval by the Home Office, lots of stuck projects. And we are passing a step that will neither require government approval nor allow entrepreneurs to know ahead of time what they are going for. "

Apropos of uncertainty: There is chaos in the question of the payoffs to tenants. Once there was competition between the developers who offer more, now authorities are limiting the consideration. Why do you need an extra mattress?

"Let's start with the situation. It is not wise to come and sign agreements with tenants who promise them an additional 40 square meters in urban renewal projects. We issued a directive and a letter to the municipal administrations, where we recommend only an additional 12 sqm. That is, each new apartment will receive an extra one room, a balcony and a new building. This will still improve the property at least three times.

"This is a good question why should an extra mattress be needed? The answer is that the tenants should still be incentivized, but yes, the market is heading in that direction. In the future, there will be no changes. A day will come and people will get an apartment for an apartment. Of 12 square meters, because there is no reason to produce monstrous projects here. Someone who lives in Yad Eliyahu in an apartment worth NIS 1 million gets a new apartment in a new building, which is already worth NIS 3 million. It is enough".

Recently, there has been harsh criticism from senior academy planners who have argued that you are outdated, spot-on, and produce residential prisons.

"It is a pity they did not sit with us before they criticized and did not know the details. Only after publication did they contact us. Could they dream of evacuation in Lod three years ago, for example? Thanks to the municipal administration we established and the municipality, 80% of the Lod area is planned for urban renewal. "And we allocated NIS 20 million to them for planning. A lot of things are happening on the ground and this review is just unprofessional."

And is there no frustration that with one hand you are trying to renew city centers, and with the other hand the government is creating new huge neighborhoods on the outskirts of cities?

"I am obviously worried about the new neighborhoods being built on the outskirts of the city, because they are producing City A and City B. I grew up in the relocation and I know what it is to grow in the old area. These moves actually create two cities - one old and one new. So it's important for me to accelerate processes, And to create neighborhoods with regeneration and the older children to study with the new ones. I explain that to the government as well: Urban regeneration is social justice, and our mission on the periphery is not easy, because local demand must also be considered. "

What is meant by?

"I do not want 2,000 new housing units in urban renewal in Kiryat Shmona, because there is no demand, this is too much mass. I prefer 400 housing units that will come in with housing enhancers, but according to our calculations in non-economic areas for urban renewal, the state should give NIS 500,000 per New housing unit. "

"Nothing written happened"

"It is inconceivable for an entrepreneur to plan a project and invest millions, bind tenants with dreams, get planning institutions approval - and then a new mayor comes to a stop.

back to you. As Hadera's mayor, she is arrested and questioned, and the Attorney General disapproved of your appointment to the PA. There were also allegations that former housing minister Yoav Galant had appointed you to pave the way for the Likud transition.

"I do not accept the claim that I came to this position because of political connections. This is nonsense. I am one of the good and professional appointees. In seven months, I was able to establish permission and work in parallel with all the mayors of the State of Israel. "I haven't been in the Likud for many years - I've finished my political section."

Still, you ended your tenure as the mayor of Hadera with a jarring chord, with a criminal investigation that you came out of clean - but only a few months ago you were arrested again in another case.

"It's upsetting. I didn't grow up in northern Tel Aviv, I'm not a doctor's son and my dad wasn't the CEO of a factory. I grew up in a family with 11 brothers and sisters, and as such, I had no chance of anything in life, but I worked hard and came to be a mayor of 50,000 - who grew up during my time to a city of 100,000.Three months before the election, I was arrested. It was sewing a bag and it was infuriating, because even after I got out it was cloud over.

"I went through a difficult life, when I was a kid, I would reach out well with my mother. When I got to the mayor it was a huge achievement for me. Apparently my opponents had a hard time seeing it. Even after the arrest, I dealt with hands tied behind my back and lost a small gap to the mayor. "I am not angry, was what it was, and I believe that the good and the bad need to be blessed, but it is easy to stain people's names and I do not wish anyone to go through it."

And what was it a few months ago? You stop again.

"Unfortunately, this time too, things that were completely cut off from reality were written. I was not arrested, but was called for testimony only. Nothing and half of what was written did not happen, and the testimony I gave did not deal with my current place of work in the PA. It is annoying that the things that were written disproved my name. That and my work in the PA? I don't sit on any committee - a tender committee or any forum that has a connection to a money transfer.