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JAFI Helps Small Businesses in Israel
The Jewish Agency, JAFI, has given grants to small-business owners in the North of Israel. Many small businesses have faced difficulties after the way with Hezbollah. Some small businesses have almost had to shut down and it was unclear whether they would survive. Many small businesses had to close for the month that the war was taking place. Even though they had no money coming in, they still had to pay bills and overheads. Small businesses found it very hard to cope with this situation.
JAFI has given out about 1,000 grants to small-businesses to help them recover from the difficulties caused by the war and ensure that they can continue trading. As well as distributing grants, they are also giving small businesses loans of up to $75,000 and providing consultations of business plans. Approximately $4 million has been set aside for such small business loans.
JAFI's director of finance and human resources, Ofer Isseroff, says that helping small businesses will help secure the economy of the region. He says that small businesses can support, on average, four families. When small businesses collapse, it can effect the whole economy.
The grant money comes from funds raised as part of the United Jewish Communities' Israel Emergency Campaign. About $320 million was raised and $92 million of this was distributed through JAFI and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The Jewish Agency's Board of Governors met in Jerusalem to discuss how to spend the remaining $228 million. Representatives from Jewish federations in the US will help decide how the money will be spent.
Some of the other ways that JAFI is helping post-war Israel is by providing scholarships to Israelis who served in the army during the war and taking schoolchildren on field trips to teach them the history of North Israel. There will also be money from the fund put towards trauma counseling and the repair of hospitals and other buildings.
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