The Knesset on Wednesday approved a bill allowing residents in existing apartment blocks, or blocks not yet built whose plans have been deposited with the planning authorities, to enlarge their bomb shelters as well as add a bathroom.

Since 1992, all new homes built in Israel have been mandated to include a reinforced room (mamad) for protection during rocket and missile attacks. Today, a fortified room  in a house or apartment must measure nine square meters (96 square feet).

The change, to be applied nationwide, will allow residents to expand the protected room to 12 square meters (130 square feet) and to add a three-meter (9.8 square foot) bathroom, for a total maximum of 15 square meters.

The additions, relevant to apartment blocks of up to nine floors, will not incur betterment taxes.

Slightly different rules will apply to apartments that are smaller than 80 square meters (860 square feet), with the latter only permitted to add a bathroom.

The Home Front Command has been inundated with queries about home protection since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, following which Israel has faced attacks from the Strip, Lebanon, Yemen and Iran, among others. Many felt new urgency to ensure their families’ safety following Israel’s 12-day war with the Islamic Republic last month, which saw unprecedented devastation of residential buildings in Israeli cities and towns as a result of Iranian ballistic missile barrages.

“Everyone wants protection today,” a source familiar with the matter told the Times of Israel. “It’s essential that they check with the Home Front Command that  products and manufacturers are approved and meet Israeli standards.”

The IDF’s Home Front Command has been reviewing a range of lessons learned from recent attacks.

Prior to the 1991 Gulf War, Israelis would seek protection........

© The Times of Israel