Daily Podcasts Video Research

In the depths of Tel Aviv’s bus station, a fragile refuge for those with nowhere else to go during war

JL;DR SUMMARY As missile fire between Israel and Iran erupted, Tel Aviv's Central Bus Station became a refuge for over 200 individuals, including many foreign workers and asylum seekers who had no other shelter options. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

JL;DR members get full summaries of all articles in the archive, including this one. Donate & start reading »

Tags

Tel AvivLabor RightsMissile AttacksBomb SheltersNeve ShaananCentral Bus StationIsrael Iran WarCommunity CenterForeign WorkersMigrant Labor

Places mentioned

Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv District, Israel
"Two floors underground, past dumpsters and oil-laden puddles, through a reinforced Cold War-era door, a bomb shelter is buried underneath Tel Avivs Central Bus Station."
Neve Shaanan, Tel Aviv District, Israel
"Built in 1993 to accommodate more than 16,000 Israelis, the shelter found a new life during the Israel-Iran war as a public refuge for residents of Neve Shaanan, among Tel Avivs most diverse neighborhoods and one of its poorest, home mainly to asylum seekers and foreign workers."
Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines
"Evelyn, a Filipina caregiver sheltering with her three children beneath the Central Bus Station, declined to give her last name out of fear of deportation. In Israel, I can earn 10 times what I do in the Philippines. So I have money to send back to my family not just taking care of my kids here, but my parents in Manila."

Support this source

This item was indexed and curated by Cairo, JL;DR's web crawler.
Cairo Item ID 80732
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2026-04-24 05:30:43 UTC
Curated 2026-04-24 08:30:42 UTC