Jewish Agency constructs new senior housing complex in Tel Aviv
It will be the first new such complex of its kind built in Tel Aviv for the last 40 years.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFUpdated: DECEMBER 22, 2020 12:35Building residents with Isaac Herzog, Chairman of The Jewish Agency.(photo credit: JEWISH AGENCY)
Construction of a new high-rise apartment complex, developed to house seniors, has just been completed in Tel Aviv as part of a national initiative organized by the Jewish Agency's subsidiary Amigour and supported by Keren Hayesod.The social housing project, named Joseph Wilf Senior Citizens’ House, features hundreds of new apartments specially tailored for senior citizens, the likes of whom include Holocaust survivors and immigrants from the former Soviet Union.It will be the first new senior housing complex of its kind built in Tel Aviv for the last 40 years. To christen the building, on the fourth night of Hanukkah, Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog set a mezuzah at the entrance of the building.“I am proud of the new Joseph Wilf Senior Citizens’ House and the entire nationwide housing project, which provides a much-needed solution for elderly Israelis and supports their well-being," said Israel’s Housing and Construction Minister Ya'acov Litzman. "We are achieving social justice for the seniors who are entitled to public housing, so that they can live a quality life in these apartments."The complex, located on Tel Aviv's HaShalom Street, will allow seniors who are entitled to public housing access to the new apartments as part of a partnership with the Israeli government. The plan accounts for the construction of 2,650 residential units for seniors across 17 building sites in nine cities around Israel.The Joseph Wilf Senior Citizens' House was named after the father of American philanthropist and chairman of the Jewish Federations of North America's Board of Trustees Mark Wilf, whose foundation supported the construction of the new senior housing complex."The inauguration of the Joseph Wilf Senior Citizens’ House is a truly momentous and historic development for hundreds of retirees, including Holocaust survivors and immigrants, who need quality housing in Israel," said Herzog. "As a former Minister of Housing and Construction, as well as a former Minister of Welfare and Social Services, I know firsthand how much a roof over the heads of the elderly means the world for them and their families."We have a duty to ensure quality of life for Israel’s founding generations, especially for Holocaust survivors and seniors in distress," Herzog said. "Amigour’s completion of the new building in Tel Aviv represents the kind of revolutionary act of social justice that we have not witnessed in Israel for many years, and an initiative that would not be possible without the mobilization and generosity of the Wilf family and other donors from around the world."The Jewish Agency's subsidiary Amigour, founded in 1972, is one of the leading housing groups in Israel. It was created to provide housing for over a million Israelis over the age of 65, including 650,000 who live close to or under the poverty line. It currently operates 57 housing projects statewide for 7,500 seniors.
