A high-rise is planned next to our Tel Aviv apartment. Can we object from Australia?

The first the family in Melbourne heard of it was a photograph from a neighbour: a yellow notice tied to a fence on the plot behind their building, in Hebrew, already three weeks old. Israeli planning law gave them a right to object to what that notice announced. It also gave them a deadline that, on one of the two possible tracks, had eleven days left to run.

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Detailed Answer

Two different procedures get confused, and they carry very different clocks. A town planning scheme is deposited for public inspection and then opened to objections. Section 100 of the Planning and Building Law 5725-1965 grants the right to object to any person interested in the land, in a building or in another planning detail who considers themselves aggrieved by the deposited plan, together with authorities and designated public bodies. Ownership of a neighbouring apartment is an interest, and nothing in the section conditions the right on citizenship or residence. Section 102 sets the window at two months from publication of the notice of deposit. The second track is the building permit. Where a developer asks for a relaxation (הקלה, hakala) or a non-conforming use, Section 149 requires publication and notice to adjoining owners, and the period for objecting is 15 days. That is the track that catches owners abroad, because a large project frequently reaches them not as a plan but as a permit application with a fortnight attached.

The mechanics are manageable at a distance if you set them up before you need them. An objection is filed in writing with the local planning and building committee and must be accompanied by an affidavit verifying the facts, under the Planning and Building (Objection Procedures, Investigator's Powers) Regulations 5749-1989, which for an Australian owner means an affidavit sworn before a local legal practitioner or notary and apostilled by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Objections that succeed are rarely the ones that say the building is too tall. They are the ones that identify a specific planning defect: a relaxation that exceeds what the section permits, shading or privacy calculations that were not done, parking provision below the standard, an access road the plan assumes and the site does not have. That usually means a planning consultant or an appraiser, and their opinion is what the committee actually engages with. If your objection to a Section 149 relaxation is rejected, Section 152 gives a right of appeal to the District Appeals Committee, filed within 30 days of delivery of the decision under the Planning and Building (Procedure in Appeals Committees) Regulations 5756-1996. And if the plan is approved and devalues your apartment without touching it, a separate claim for injurious affection lies under Section 197, with a three-year deadline that expires quietly while owners abroad are still absorbing the news. The structural fix for all of this is the same one that solves most absentee-owner problems: an Israeli address for service on the register and somebody instructed to watch the committee's file, which belongs in the routine of managing Israeli property from abroad.

In Practice: Section 102 of the Planning and Building Law 5725-1965 gives two months from publication of the deposit notice, while Section 149 allows only 15 days to object to a permit sought with a relaxation, both filed with the local planning and building committee. A planning consultant's or appraiser's opinion to support the objection typically costs NIS 5,000 to NIS 15,000, an objection hearing is usually held three to nine months after filing, and an appeal to the District Appeals Committee under Section 152 must be lodged within 30 days of the decision.

When to Consult a Lawyer

• The notice you have seen concerns a permit rather than a plan. Fifteen days is not enough time to find an Israeli lawyer, swear an affidavit in Australia and have it apostilled, so the affidavit and the retainer need to be arranged the day the notice appears.
• Your building's residents are objecting collectively. A single well-evidenced objection from the affected owners beats twenty identical letters, and the drafting decides whether the committee treats it as planning argument or as opposition.
• The plan has already been approved and your apartment is worth less because of it. The Section 197 claim is a different proceeding with a different deadline, and it is lost far more often to the three-year rule than to the merits.

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Speak With an Israeli Attorney

We monitor the local committee's file on your building, file the objection within the statutory window with the affidavit and expert opinion it needs, and take the appeal to the District Appeals Committee where the objection is refused.

Contact us for a confidential initial consultation.