Israel Land Authority Refunds NIS 71,500 Safe-Room Fee to Naan Resident

The Israel Land Authority refunded approximately NIS 71,500 charged to a Kibbutz Naan resident for adding a safe room to his home, following an administrative objection. The newly disclosed case concerns construction carried out under a building-permit exemption. The date of the refund was not specified. The resident completed the required Home Front Command approvals and construction checks. In July, after approval of the housing allocation and lease agreement, the authority issued a payment demand exceeding NIS 214,000. It included approximately NIS 124,000 in capitalized lease fees and NIS 90,000 in permit and use fees, of which about NIS 71,500 related to the safe-room addition. Lawyer Shlomi Sahar, of Gerstein-Sahar & Co., challenged that portion of the demand. He argued that building under the exemption track did not require the authority's consent and that it therefore had no legal basis to collect the charge. The authority subsequently withdrew the safe-room demand and returned the payment. The outcome followed an administrative objection, rather than a reported court judgment. In its response, the authority acknowledged the objection and said a professional review had examined the matter. It said that "criteria were set for cases in which the payment exemption applies." The response described criteria for qualifying cases, rather than announcing an automatic exemption for every safe-room addition.