A Tel Aviv mother and her son say they were required to pay to leave an underground parking garage after entering it during a missile alert.
The incident occurred on Friday when the pair drove into a protected underground parking facility operated by Ahuzot HaHof on Chelanov Street after receiving an early warning of incoming missiles.
The son, Itai, told ynet on Sunday that after the Home Front Command announced the all-clear, parking operators refused to open the gate unless they paid for the time spent inside.
“The operators would not open the gate without payment,” he said.
Ahuzot HaHof is a municipal company. Itai has since contacted Tel Aviv’s municipality, requesting a refund and urging officials to clarify the policy regarding sheltering in parking garages during the war with Iran.
“I never imagined that anywhere someone would charge me for using a shelter,” he said. “In my own building, I let anyone from the street come in.”
'This is detached from reality'
Parking garages in the city charge for any stay longer than 15 minutes. Itai and his mother left after roughly 20 minutes.
In a letter to the municipality, he noted that the shelter area in the garage is located on level minus three.
“Getting down there and coming back up is not something that takes a minute,” he wrote.
He stressed that they entered the garage after receiving the early missile alert and remained inside until the Home Front Command issued the official all-clear.
“It’s surprising and infuriating,” he wrote, addressing Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai directly. “Mr. Mayor, please make sure the garages are updated that drivers who enter during a siren should not be charged, even if they stay for 20 minutes.”
He signed the letter as “a city resident, a taxpayer and a citizen who wants to protect himself.”
In practice, the city’s expectation is that drivers should find parking in the middle of a crowded city like Tel Aviv and only then enter the garage on foot — a guideline that has not been publicly communicated.
“It feels like they’re throwing you to the wolves,” Itai said. “What exactly are we being charged for? For entering the nearest protected space? This is bizarre behavior that’s completely disconnected from reality.
“The city should have assumed there would be cases where people enter with their cars to take shelter, but instead they chose to keep their heads down and hurt ordinary citizens.”
City response
The Tel Aviv municipality said underground garages designated as emergency shelters are intended primarily for pedestrians.
“Underground parking garages that have been prepared as emergency shelters are meant for hundreds and thousands of residents and passersby who enter them on foot when a siren sounds,” the city said in a statement.
“Vehicles moving through the garages at the same time could pose a danger to them, so drivers are asked not to enter garages during sirens and to keep the routes clear for residents.”
The municipality added that those who do enter with their vehicle receive the first 15 minutes free of charge.