Yuval Raphael, 42, the founder of the Raphael family’s Airbnb empire, which at its peak managed about 200 apartments, filed a personal request Sunday for a stay of proceedings in order to formulate a debt arrangement following his financial collapse. A day after the October 7 massacre, Raphael made dozens of the company’s properties available free of charge to hundreds of evacuees.
According to the request, filed through attorneys Shelly Nahum and Itamar Cohen, Raphael’s debts from personal guarantees total about 49 million shekels ($13.3 million). The debts stem from ongoing business activity, loans used to finance property purchases and operations, and personal guarantees he provided to secure the activity of companies in the group.
Nahum said Sunday that “Yuval Raphael ran a successful business for years, and on the eve of the war managed about 200 hospitality properties. When the war broke out, Raphael made all the properties available, without any compensation, to host about 1,000 evacuees from communities near Gaza and in the north. The value of the donation was millions of shekels, financed by him.”
“Unfortunately, the long war caused international flight cancellations and a complete halt in demand for vacation apartments for a period no one expected, leading to the collapse of the businesses,” Nahum added. “It is a sad story, a success story that was cut short and dragged Yuval and his entire family into the depths.”
Livnat Haddad Ohayon, who was evacuated with her family from the Gaza border area on October 7, said she did not know Raphael before he hosted them.
“He hosted us in one of the villas in Eilat for a whole week, me, my family and my extended family,” she said. “We did not know him. He told me, ‘Everything is fine. You do not need to pay anything.’ A wonderful person. He deserves only good. He did not owe us anything. I am willing to come and testify. An angel. When I begged him to give me his address so I could thank him, he absolutely refused.”
One of the apartments where the evacuees stayed
Raphael’s personal request was filed Sunday with the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court, after the Beersheba District Court last week ordered the liquidation of Yuval Raphael Holdings and Raphael Real Estate Consulting and Investments and appointed a trustee for them. At the request of Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, a receiver was also appointed over an alleged debt of 5 million shekels ($1.4 million).
In an affidavit submitted to the court, Raphael said he is married and the father of three children, and that he operated a short-term rental tourism business through three companies he owned.
“My collapse was caused mainly by external circumstances that affected the Israeli economy, circumstances because of which I am currently unable to pay my debts on time and my businesses collapsed,” he wrote. “I served as a combat soldier in an elite unit, an Israeli patriot, and was raised on the values of giving and sacrifice for the State of Israel.”
He added that “when the war broke out, on October 8, 2023, I immediately mobilized to help residents of the Gaza border area and the north who were in the line of fire.”
“In the first 15 days of the war, before any government framework had been formulated, I made all the group’s properties, about 200, available for the free hosting of about 1,000 Israelis who had been evacuated from their homes because of the war,” Raphael wrote. “I bore enormous operating and rental costs without any compensation and without any compensation framework on the horizon. The company then had solid financial backing, which eroded as the end of the war moved further away, until its businesses collapsed completely.”
Raphael said he managed the activity through Yuval Raphael Holdings, which owned Romi Raphael Real Estate and Raphael Real Estate Consulting and Investments.
attorney Shelly NahumPhoto: Artur KorolThe request claims that since the outbreak of the war, Israel’s tourism industry has entered its worst crisis since the founding of the state. With the start of the war, many countries issued severe travel warnings for Israel. As a direct result, international airlines canceled flights to Israel, cutting off the group’s main target audience: tourists coming to Israel for short stays.
The request also claims that domestic tourism was harmed. In addition, it cites a dispute with the Tourism Ministry over the classification of apartments used to host evacuees, which allegedly led to payments to the company that were significantly lower than it had forecast.
According to the request, seven real estate assets are registered under Romi Raphael and one additional property is owned by Raphael Real Estate. These properties are expected to be sold as part of the companies’ liquidation, with proceeds paid to secured creditors for whom Yuval Raphael served as guarantor.
It should be clarified that the case does not involve the Ramat Gan-based real estate company Raphael Real Estate Group, owned by David Raphael.