Nonprofit SparkIL begins initiative to support small business owners of Israel's North

Published: SEPTEMBER 7, 2024 05:55

Avihai Barzani and Adam Shemesh, owners of B-Green Beekeeping, are one of thousands of small businesses in northern Israel to have been affected by the ongoing war in the region. (photo credit: Courtesy) — Avihai Barzani and Adam Shemesh, owners of B-Green Beekeeping, are one of thousands of small businesses in northern Israel to have been affected by the ongoing war in the region.

(photo credit: Courtesy)

The organization is making this effort amid the escalation of Hezbollah's rocket fire.

Nonprofit organization SparkIL began on Tuesday an initiative to assist Israel's small business owners living in the northern areas of the country - which has been under rocket fire from Hezbollah.

The organization has launched an emergency loan of NIS 10 million ($2.7 million). This initiative is in addition to its previous $5.5 million which was contributed to over 300 businesses by rallying more than two thousand microlenders throughout the world.

SparkIL CEO Na'ama Ore said that "business owners in the North have had to accept a stark new reality of evacuation from their homes and workplaces, non-stop rocket and mortar attacks, and possibly even a war on the northern front that could break out at any moment.

Israelis and diaspora Jews working together

“That is why we have decided to harness the passion and generosity of both Diaspora Jews and Israelis who are eager to help, empowering them to become social investors through our platform," she continued.

Israel's north reportedly holds 90 thousand of the country's 660 thousand small- and medium-sized businesses. Half a million people are said to be employed by the businesses up north. However, many of those employees are displaced due to Hezbollah's rocket fire.

TAL MALICHI, one of the small business owners who received a loan from SparkIL, works at his cafe. (credit: YUVAL EREZ)

SparkIL said that business owners and self-employed citizens are eligible for an interest-free loan of up to NIS 100 thousand. The nonprofit also said that it cultivates connections between the diaspora Jewish population with the Israeli population. One way this is done is through a loan as small as $25 to directly support the small business of their choice in Israel, which can be found here. The minimum amount for a loan in Israel is NIS 50. It also allows participants to partake in crowdfunding interest-free loans. It was established two years ago in partnership with the Jewish Agency for Israel and The Ogen Group.

"Each loan represents the importance of our mutual guarantee as an Israeli society and as a Jewish people to support each other," Ore also said. "And especially to support the business owners in the North who are now facing a total collapse of their regional economy.”