Beit Uri
Residential village and school in Afula, Israel, for people with intellectual and other disabilities, founded in 1969
| Beit Uri
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|---|---|
| Logo | 
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| Type | Israeli amuta (non-profit association) |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Founder(s) | Devora Schick |
| Registration ID | 580088821 (Israel) |
| Headquarters | Hatzukit 4, Afula 1873704, Israel (registered address) |
| Location | Afula, Israel |
| Services | Residential care, school and workshops for people with disabilities |
| Key people | Rami Saaroni (chairman) |
| Website | bet-uri.org.il |
Beit Uri is a residential village in Afula, northern Israel, for residents aged 7 to 60 with intellectual and other disabilities. It was founded in 1969 by Devora Schick, a Prague-born Jewish woman whose son had a disability; after studying "therapeutic pedagogy in anthroposophic institutes throughout Europe", she opened Beit Uri and named it after her son Uri.[1] It has more than 120 residents with a range of disabilities. It includes a school for children aged 6 to 21, ability-based workshops for adults over 21, and a medical clinic open at all hours. Beit Uri is run by a board of trustees and is funded mainly by the Israeli Ministries of Welfare and Education.[2] It is registered in Israel as an amuta, number 580088821, with its registered address at Hatzukit 4, Afula 1873704.[3]
Afula lies inside the 1949 Armistice (Green) Line. It is named after the Palestinian village of al-Afula (Al-ʿAffūla), which formerly stood on the site, and was founded in 1925 on lands acquired by the American Zion Commonwealth.[4] The American Zion Commonwealth was a company incorporated in New York State in 1914 by American Zionists with the purpose of "aiding Jews in the settlement of Palestine and securing for our members and their descendants rights, interest and privileges in lands occupied".[5] Afula was established before the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, with the aim of making it the urban centre of the Jewish settlements in the Jezreel Valley.[6] Al-Afula's position at a crossroads of highways and railways – north and north-west to Nazareth and Haifa, north-east to Tiberias, south-east to Beit She'an, south to Jenin and Nablus, and south-west to Megiddo and Hadera – was seen as an asset for the expansion of settlement.[6]
Facilities
Beit Uri has six residential buildings, each with five members of staff, a night nurse and an on-site clinic. In 2010 an independent apartment opposite Beit Uri was bought and opened for four high-functioning residents, and in 2016 a satellite hostel nearby opened for ten residents, with a live-in carer.[7]
A school run and funded by the Israeli Ministry of Education operates at Beit Uri, with six classes of up to six children each.[8]
Beit Uri runs a café and gallery, "Café on the Hill", near Mount Tabor, Nazareth, Beit She'an and Tiberias, where residents sell their arts and crafts. It seats up to 60 people on two floors.[9]
People
Officers on the Israeli register
| Name | Role(s) |
|---|---|
| Rami Saaroni | Committee member; chairman of an association without a chief executive; authorised signatory |
| Tova Goren | Committee member; authorised signatory |
| Amikam Raz | Committee member; authorised signatory |
| Assaf Shubinsky | Committee member |
| Shir Filler Saaroni | Committee member |
| Alon Steinberg | Additional lawyer |
| Efrat Horin | Director of the day-care centre |
| Yigal Kadosh | Certified public accountant |
| Nir Nachmani | Internal auditor |
| Segev David | Certified public accountant |
| Paula Louise Geva | Audit committee member |
| Lilach Edari | Payroll accountant |
| Dina Margalit Gross | Legal adviser |
| Aline Suissa | Finance manager/treasurer |
| Uri Katz | Audit committee member |
- Assaf Shubinsky is a lawyer and partner at Matry, Meiri, Wacht & Co., where he jointly heads the competition and antitrust department and the litigation department.[11] He is one of the lawyers from the firms of G. Kerner and Matry, Meiri, Wacht who filed a class action against Meta on behalf of victims of the 7 October 2023 attack. The claim argues that Facebook and Instagram, by broadcasting the attack live, "served as an integral part of Hamas's terror infrastructure".[12] He discussed the claim in a video published by Israel's Channel 10, titled "Social networks – part of Hamas's terror infrastructure?"[13]
- Alon Steinberg is a lawyer based in Ramat Hasharon.[14]
Partners
Beit Uri lists these partners:[15]
- Jewish Federation of the East Bay and the Jewish Community Foundation (US)
- National Golf (Israel)
- Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford (US)
- The National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) (Israel)
- Jewish Child's Day (UK)
- The Archie Sherman Charitable Trust (UK)
- The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust (US, New York)[16]
- The Sobell Foundation (UK)
- Kassirer Foundation (Israel)
- The Peretz Naftali Foundation (Israel)
- The Arkin Family Foundation (Israel)
- Richard Bernays Stiftung (Switzerland)
National service volunteers
Beit Uri takes young volunteers from Israel and abroad "as part of their national service, in lieu of military service, or as part of a year of community service before military service".[17] Young Israelis who are exempt from service in the Israel Defense Forces may do Sherut Leumi, "a national service option for young adults, between the ages of 17-24, who choose not to serve in the IDF".[18]
MyIsrael
Beit Uri is not listed among the causes on the website of the UK charity MyIsrael. MyIsrael's accounts describe it as a "Home for children with special needs in Afula" (2014/15 to 2016/17) and a "Residential home for 100 young people with special needs" (2025).[19][20]
| Year | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Year to 31 March 2015 | £1,813 | [21] |
| Year to 31 March 2017 | £49,750 | [19] |
| Year to 31 December 2025 | £23,750 | [20] |
| Total | £75,313 |
Contact details
- Website: https://www.bet-uri.org.il/home-page
- Phone: +972 4 651 1300
- Email: info@bet-uri.org.il
- Address: Tsukit St 4, Afula[2]
See also
Notes
- ↑ History Beit Uri, accessed 13 June 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Home Beit Uri, accessed 16 May 2026.
- ↑ Israel Ministry of Justice - Beit Uri General Information GuideStar, accessed 13 June 2026.
- ↑ Encyclopaedia Britannica, ʿAfula Britannica, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ The American Zion Commonwealth (inc.) affiliated with the Zionist Organization of America, 1920, p. 1 National Library of Israel, accessed 13 June 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Afula Jewish Virtual Library, accessed 13 June 2026.
- ↑ Community Life Beit Uri, accessed 16 May 2026.
- ↑ School Beit Uri, accessed 16 May 2026.
- ↑ Cafe and Gallery Beit Uri, accessed 16 May 2026.
- ↑ Israel Ministry of Justice - Beit Uri Officials GuideStar, accessed 21 May 2026.
- ↑ Team Member - Assaf Shubinsky MAMLaw, accessed 24 June 2026.
- ↑ Ynet, "הם רצחו וחטפו – ופייסבוק שידרו": קורבנות 7 באוקטובר בתביעת ענק נגד מטא ("They murdered and kidnapped – and Facebook broadcast": 7 October victims in giant lawsuit against Meta) Ynet (Hebrew), 4 August 2025, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ Channel 10 Israel - Social networks – part of Hamas's terror infrastructure? Adv. Assaf Shubinsky, Matry, Meiri, Wacht & Co. Facebook, accessed 24 June 2026.
- ↑ Alon Steinberg Easy, accessed 19 June 2026.
- ↑ Partners Beit Uri, accessed 16 May 2026.
- ↑ About us Helmsley Charitable Trust, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ Volunteers Beit Uri, accessed 12 June 2026.
- ↑ Sherut Leumi Nefesh B'Nefesh, accessed 12 June 2026.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 MyIsrael (UK registered charity 1121960), accounts for the year ended 31 March 2017 (notes on restricted funds), UK Government Web Archive, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 MyIsrael (UK registered charity 1121960), Accounts and annual returns (accounts for the period to 31 December 2019 and the years to 31 December 2020 to 2025, notes on restricted funds), Charity Commission for England and Wales, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ MyIsrael (UK registered charity 1121960), accounts for the year ended 31 March 2015 (notes on restricted funds), UK Government Web Archive, accessed 22 October 2026.