"Feels like New York after COVID": The new plague taking over Jaffa and central Tel Aviv

Residents in upscale Tel Aviv neighborhoods, including Montefiore, Noga Compound in Jaffa, and Dizengoff Square, report a worsening of the homeless and drug phenomenon in public spaces. A mother of an infant tells of syringes in the garden and a feeling that 'you can't live here with kids.' The municipality and police shift responsibility to each other.

Residents in upscale Tel Aviv neighborhoods, including Montefiore, Noga Compound in Jaffa, and Dizengoff Square, report a significant worsening of the homeless and drug use phenomenon in public spaces. Noa, a mother of a month-and-a-half-old baby from the Montefiore neighborhood, tells of syringes in the garden, homeless people entering the building, and shouting, and feels that 'you can't live here with kids.' Adi from the Noga Compound in Jaffa describes a reality where homeless people defecate in stairwells and inject drugs two meters from her home, and she does not go out alone in the evening. Yuval from Dizengoff Square tells of drug addicts dismantling bicycles and injecting drugs in public. The residents criticize the lack of municipal and police response. The municipality stated that personal security is the police's responsibility, and that it operates through a dedicated unit that treated 1,263 people in street situations in 2025. The police stated that handling the homeless is the municipality's responsibility.