"It has become horrible to walk in the street": Tiberias Municipality demands to close the distribution center

Merchants and residents warn of the presence of addicts and homeless people, theft attempts, and a decline in the sense of security in the center of Tiberias. The municipality confirms that the mayor and the CEO demanded to close the distribution center in the tourism and business area, and stated that the police representative also pointed to the "problematic nature that has arisen on the ground." Business owners are preparing for a protest and are simultaneously conducting contacts with the municipality.

Business owners in the center of Tiberias warn of an increasing presence, according to them, of drug addicts and homeless people in the commercial area, and some of them tell of theft attempts and a decline in the sense of security. Now it turns out that the Tiberias Municipality also demands to close the distribution center operating in the heart of the city, after it said that its activity created a "problematic nature" in the tourism and business areas.

This coming Sunday, August 16, the merchants intend to hold a demonstration in the city park, as published in the local newspaper "Kore be-Kinneret," as part of a wider protest against the state of business in the city. However, following an inquiry by "Ma'ariv," contacts are being held between the merchants and the municipality's CEO in an attempt to reach a solution.

One of the cases that the merchants tell about occurred recently at the "Clean Boutique" store. Maoz, the business owner and a member of the business owners' committee, told "Ma'ariv" that a person entered the store while his wife was there with their baby daughter and tried, according to him, to steal money from the cash register.

"My wife was with my baby in the store. A person simply pushed her with his shoulder when she caught him when he was about to steal money from the cash register, and almost knocked over my stroller with the baby," he said. According to him, no complaint was filed with the police following the incident, but the man's picture was distributed in an internal group of business owners and was also passed on to the mayor's advisor.

Maoz claims that the presence of addicts and homeless people in the city center has been going on for months. "We have down there, in the center of the lower city, a phenomenon of junkies and homeless people," he said. "They enter stores and harass and try to steal money."

According to him, in the city park, one can sometimes see groups of people gathering at the place and wandering the streets where businesses operate. "It cannot continue like this. We want to make a living with dignity," he said. "We love our city very much. Most of the businesses here are deep-rooted Tiberians who invested a lot of money in their businesses. We want to lift our heads above the water. We want to work as we should work."

Ran Drori, chairman of the business owners' committee in Tiberias, also describes a similar reality. According to him, some of the people wandering in the area enter stores and steal. "You turn your head for a second, things go missing here," he told "Ma'ariv." "The matter of this drug addiction, of these addicts, is simply increasing."

Drori claims that business owners raised the issue in several meetings with the mayor, but according to him, they do not see a sufficient change on the ground. "We met several times with the mayor. We talked about many issues and among them also about this issue. Nothing is progressing."

According to him, despite promises to increase supervision and enforcement, the presence of enforcement agencies in the area is still not sufficient. "I am on the street every day, from seven in the morning until five-thirty. There is no enforcement, there is no enforcement," he said. "I am not saying walk around here all day and guard me. There are girls here who manage businesses, women, it is unpleasant."

The difficult feelings are not heard only from the business owners. Sagit, a resident of Tiberias, said that for her, even walking in the city center has become disturbing. "It has become horrible to walk in the street, they are everywhere," she told "Ma'ariv." "I understand that they have a methadone station in the area and it is simply delusional that they set it up in the center of a city that is supposed to be a tourist city. It is scary to walk in the street."

The municipality demands: close the distribution center in the heart of the city

Now the Tiberias Municipality confirms that it demands to close the distribution center operating in the heart of the city. The municipality stated that the issue was raised in a meeting it held with the association operating the center, in which a representative of the Tiberias police also participated.

"In the meeting we held with the association operating the distribution center, Mayor Yossi Nabaa and Municipality CEO Shimon Finian demanded the closure of the distribution center located in the heart of the city of Tiberias. In this meeting, a representative of the Tiberias police was also present, who exposed the problematic nature that has arisen on the ground following the distribution center operating in the tourism and business areas," the municipality stated.

The struggle against the phenomenon is not new. Already in July, the municipality announced a large-scale enforcement operation by the municipal police in several locations, which was intended to deal, among other things, with what it defined as the "phenomenon of junkies, peddlers, and homeless people," alongside cleanliness and alcohol offenses in the public space.

As part of that operation, the municipality reported that reports were filed against peddlers and drug addicts. In addition, 31 cleanliness reports were filed, in 16 cases of alcohol use in the public space the contents of the bottles were poured out, 22 traffic reports were filed, and three reports for noise disturbance.

The municipality's CEO said then: "The cooperation between the municipality and the Tiberias police is fruitful and successful," and added: "We will do everything so that every corner in Tiberias will be pleasant and safe for the residents."

However, Drori claims that the business owners did not feel a change following the operation. "They did an operation maybe for two hours, we didn't feel anything," he said.

The presence of addicts and homeless people is one of a series of issues that led the business owners to declare the protest. In a notice published by the committee, it was also claimed about tax increases, economic difficulties, dirt, poor maintenance, and damage to commercial activity.

"We are not going out to protest because we are against the city. On the contrary. We are going out to protest because we care about the city," was written in the committee's notice. "We want a lively, clean, safe, and prosperous city center. We want people to want to come here, to spend time, to buy, and to open new businesses."

The demonstration is planned for Sunday, August 16, between 12:00 and 15:00 in the city park. According to Drori, it was approved by the police and the organizers ask to hold it without violence or going down to the road. "We are business owners who want to bring a living home," he said. At the same time, as mentioned, contacts are being held with the municipality in an attempt to reach a solution.

The Tiberias Municipality stated: "For months, the Tiberias Municipality has been acting through municipal supervision and in cooperation with the municipal police, to enforce the issue that bothers passersby in the public space and business owners. As part of this enforcement, several people were arrested and others were even issued reports.

In these days, enforcement has been reinforced to try to remove as much as possible the disturbing phenomenon. The municipal supervision and municipal police personnel will continue to act decisively to increase the sense of security in the public space."

The municipality also stated: "In the meeting we held with the association operating the distribution center, Mayor Yossi Nabaa and Municipality CEO Shimon Finian demanded the closure of the distribution center located in the heart of the city of Tiberias. In this meeting, a representative of the Tiberias police was also present, who exposed the problematic nature that has arisen on the ground following the distribution center operating in the tourism and business areas."

The Israel Police stated: "The Israel Police is in a continuous struggle against the plague of drugs and street crime. The activity is carried out all the time in open and covert enforcement, for the prevention and exposure of offenses that harm the lives of the city's residents and tourists."

The Ministry of Health's response will be published when received.