Flag parade: Business owners fear security escalation
The flag parade is loaded with religious, national, security, political and political significance.
But alongside all this, this march also has a profound economic impact, not only in the Holy City, but across the business activity in the cities involved and all over the country.
Liat Ron
29/05/2022
Sunday, 29 May 2022, 12:23 Updated: 12:32
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The “guardian of the walls” trauma last year, which fatally hit many business owners, is still hanging in the air.
It will be recalled that according to the Manufacturers' Association, the total damage to the economy was then estimated at NIS 1.2 billion, including businesses in the center and south of the country that were hit by missile fire from Gaza and businesses in the mixed cities that were closed for fear of violence and hostilities against them, including Acre, Ramla, Lod and Jerusalem.
Advocate Roi Cohen, president of Lahav
, says that the security reality is reflected in the cities involved, .
Maoz Yinon, co-founder of the "Avraham Hostels" hostel chain
, Which has branches in Eilat, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Nazareth, is holding fingers that the next day will pass in peace.
"We are in a whirlwind of events," says Yinon, "before Corona for two years, the Guardian of the Walls, Ramadan and now the flag parade, another event and another. April was the first month in two years that we somehow reached balance - not profit, not loss, but balance.
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Avraham Hostel in Jerusalem.
Fear that in the event of a security escalation, tourism, which has just begun to recover, will be harmed (Photo: Official website, Eddie Gerald)
Tourists who have already returned may flee
"We know that if this day gets a little out of control, tourists
will not want to come here and we will go back again. Right now inbound tourism has very nice traffic and the recovery is big and fast. Domestic tourism is also starting to recover.
Were closed and starting to open right now and the fear is that if a violent wave arises, there will be several more months without work.
We are still arguing about the grants of January 2022, which was the worst month in the Israeli tourism industry. "
January this year was worse than the months when there was a full closure?
" Absolutely.
It was a quiet closure, there were no tourists, zero grants, zero income and because it was impossible to get more workers, we paid high salaries. It can be said that a recovery trend began in February. A lot of tourists from abroad.
"Missiles from Gaza will not help anyone."
Unusually, the state approved relatively extensive compensation for businesses affected by Operation Wall Guard, which included differential compensation based on distance from the border, compensation for working days and as an alternative to compensation for indirect and direct damages due to violence, allowed the Tax Authority to calculate accelerated depreciation During the confrontations.
Maoz Yinon and his partners, who as mentioned have not yet received the Omicron compensation from five months ago, are not building on help from the state and have already begun to act to ensure themselves income in times of security tension, which overflows once every few months.
"We're developing businesses abroad," he says, "because we have no other choice.
Restaurants have moved to Take Away so they can make a living.
We, unfortunately, can not.
Adv. Roi Cohen, President of Lahav (Photo: Avshalom Shashoni)
In addition to all the trouble, high-tech is also declining
"There are a few other macro parameters here that need to be taken into account. High-tech is declining so high-techers are spending less and the economy is entering a slowdown that is affecting everyone. We were able to recover from it. I can say that Nazareth last weekend had a good occupancy and in Tel Aviv we are full. In Jerusalem a little less, but the occupancy is relatively high.
"
"We have been talking for many years about insuring businesses for damages that come against the background of a security situation, but unfortunately, we are not interested in politicians so we have no choice but to work abroad as well, so that not all eggs are in one basket."
Roi Cohen, on the other hand, expects immediate action from the state.
"I call on the government ministers in charge of this, to formulate a plan of action in cases of security tensions and to act to help the businesses affected by it."
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The parade of flags
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The guardian of the walls