Across Israel, there are currently 53,000 shared communal bomb shelters, intended to accommodate 3.1 million people. 50% of these bomb shelters are in distressed and underprivileged neighborhoods. When residents do not have access to a usable shelter, they are left huddled in their stairwells, with no way to protect their families or prevent an attack on their lives. The problem is simply too big for cities to manage, and as so many of these residents are vulnerable — they can’t restore these shelters on their own. When the siren sounds, or when terrorists arrive without warning, they end up staying in their homes praying to God that they will survive an attack, or running into the stairway halls where there is only marginally more protection. 

Shelters and safe rooms are critical to protect families from both the dangers of being hit by missiles and the arrival of armed terrorists on their doorsteps, sent to murder innocent Jews. 

However, after years of disuse, many of these communal bomb shelters are unusable, as they are dangerous, mold-ridden, filled with trash, pitch black without electricity, or experience sewage issues due to poor or non-existent plumbing. Some have been used illegally for storage by people who lock up these communal bomb shelters for their own use and threaten the neighbors not to enter. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!

The problem of unusable bomb shelters falls disproportionately on our most vulnerable citizens, mostly low-income families, the elderly, and those living in old buildings.