Is it permitted to broker an apartment in Israel to non-Jews

To the questioner,

You have asked a question that is the subject of much disagreement. Therefore, the best thing is to ask your family rabbi to rule for you.

And if your question has reached the site, I will only note what I found worth emphasizing on this matter:

In the sale of land in the Land of Israel from an Arab to a Jew, of course there is no question, and it is permitted.

In a sale from an Arab to an Arab, there is greater room to be lenient and permit it:

- The Maharsha (Gittin 47a) inferred from the words of the Gemara that there is no prohibition against selling a field to a non-Jew, provided that the field was previously purchased from that same non-Jew.

- This principle was extended by Rabbi Shmuel Salant בשם Rabbi of the Yasa Beracha, and in his view, land that was purchased from a non-Jew may be sold back to a non-Jew, not דווקא to the same non-Jew, but to any non-Jew (as stated in responsa Zichron Simchah, responsum 214).

In a sale from a Jew to an Arab, there are many grounds for prohibition:

1) If the house is in a Jewish neighborhood, there is a special prohibition against selling from a Jew to a non-Jew, because this ultimately causes the whole neighborhood to break apart.

The view of the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l and of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt"l is that Jews should not sell to any non-Jew in a long-established neighborhood where many Jews live, since such a sale causes an epidemic of apartment sales and the migration of Jews to another neighborhood, bringing with it many financial losses for the community as a whole, as well as spiritual losses.

And if so, even what they permitted regarding renting or selling among non-Jews in certain cases applies specifically in a neighborhood where non-Jews already live. However, in a neighborhood that has Jews, it is forbidden according to all opinions to rent or sell to a non-Jew when there is concern that there are additional non-Jews there and that an atmosphere may arise that will harm Jews physically, forcing them to leave the neighborhood, or spiritually, by causing them to live among Jews and thereby lead them to decline in observance of Torah, or to intermarriage, Heaven forfend, and so on.

2) If the sale is made to a non-Jew whose faith is considered idolatry, it is forbidden to sell him any house in the Land of Israel.

According to most poskim, Christians are indeed included in the category of idol worshippers, even today.

The view of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef zt"l is that Muslims today are not considered idol worshippers.

3) And there are those who prohibit any sale of a house to a non-Jew in the Land of Israel, in accordance with the poskim that the prohibition of lo techanem - which is a Torah prohibition of lo titen lahem chaniyah ba-karka, giving them a foothold in the land - also applies to any non-Jew, and not only to non-Jewish idol worshippers.

And this is the wording of a notice that was published about ten years ago:

"We hereby declare our view, the view of Torah, that it is forbidden to sell land or a house in the Land of Israel to a non-Jew - even one who is not an idol worshipper - or to an Ishmaelite, even in a case of great loss or pressing need."

It was signed that this was the view of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, Rabbi Aharon Leib Steinman, and Rabbi Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg.

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In any case where it is forbidden, it will also be forbidden to broker it, because of lifnei iveir - placing before another the opportunity to do a transgression.

And may Hashem help you understand what is proper to do according to Torah in your situation, and may it be His will that we merit to be saved from all prohibitions.

With blessing,

Rabbi Nachum