Reservists' assistance: Business support from Jewish Agency

The reservists are just getting back to business and trying to pick up the pieces of their businesses, but are very worried about the future due to the escalation in the northern sector and the reserve orders that have already arrived for the coming months.

Last month, the Jewish Agency and the Civilian Armed Forces "Brotherhood of Israel", along with other organizations, launched the project "A business wrap for the reserves" - which is designed to provide a business and financial assistance envelope to the small businesses of the reservists who left everything behind and went to defend the home. The project combines business support with financial grants in order to support the return and continuation of business activity.

The POW researcher who serves in the reserves since the Seventh of October, the dog trainer who went in and out of Gaza, the owner of the Makrit Shmona business who evacuated himself and the comedian who just started working on a new show: so far hundreds of requests for assistance have been received, a large part of which have already received grants. Dozens more businesses of reservists are already receiving support from mentors.

Shalom Zanzuri, a reservist with a business in Kiryat Ono who received the grant and even business support, says: "When I am told that it is not obvious when I go to the reserves, it is really hard for me to understand why it is perceived as not obvious. After all, there is nothing more understandable than that it is our duty to do everything to preserve the beauty and safety of the citizens in our wonderful country. And now when I receive from you a warm and loving hug and real and professional support, I feel the meaning of 'not taken for granted'. There was no solution for me through other channels and you understood my claims without delay and without piling up difficulties, you supported me with an amazing grant and consultants who continue to accompany me and it is obvious that it is really important to you that I be able to get back on track soon."

Now, following the growing demand, the Jewish Agency and the Civilian Civil Society Fraternity for Israel have decided to extend assistance to all reserve servicemen in all formations (and not just to the fighting formation), to the businesses of reservists' spouses/spouses, and also to very small business owners.

The new criteria for those entitled to assistance - a small business (licensed dealer/company/exempt business) owned by a reservist or a business owned by the spouse with an annual turnover of up to NIS 2,500,000. The financial grant to be given for supporting the business activity will amount to up to 1% of the annual turnover and up to a maximum of NIS 20,000 according to various criteria including the turnover of the business, the state of the business, the number of reserve days, the purpose of the service and more (the fund also reserves the right to refer to special cases). The reserve service must be at least 60 days as part of 'Iron Swords'.

The businesses will also receive personal support free of charge through a professional support program provided by the IVN organization, the Civil Society Brotherhood of Israel, Clearmark Capital and the Jewish Agency. The volunteers of the project are professionals in various fields, with the goal being to help the business manager deal with the set of issues involved in managing a business in crisis situations and planning its activities in the future.

Amira Ahronovitz, CEO of the Jewish Agency, said: "As soon as the war broke out, the men and women of the reservists showed up to protect our homes and left behind both family and businesses that they established with great effort and love. Now we wish to return love to them and support them through a "wrapping project for a business for the reserves", which provides reservists with small businesses both initial financial assistance and professional business accompaniment on a voluntary basis. The Jewish Agency will continue to work to strengthen the resilience of the State of Israel, together with its partners in the Jewish communities and with its partners in Israeli society.'

Ilan Levanon, the director of the foundation on behalf of the civilian army "Brotherhood of Israel", said: "Following the inquiries, we identified a significant distress also among the spouses of the reservists, as well as in the very small businesses, and we worked to provide an answer to H.N. It should be remembered that ten percent of the reservists have independent businesses, the cross-section of the population of the reservists is a young age (up to 35), these are not veteran businesses, the first years of activity, the military man invested a lot of his capital to develop them and hit hard. Some of them already know about additional reserve service, which does not add to the feeling of security in the upturn of their business, and we pledge to stand behind those who leave everything again and again and show up to guard us."