"We have become a state of associations. The state collects taxes, while businesses go out on private initiatives and help each other, and that is sad," Meir Najibi, owner and CEO of the To Go chain, summed up the situation, referring to a group announcement. "Big" for lowering rents for stores in closed complexes.
It's almost a recurring refrain: every Corona wave brings with it headlines like "Business Owners' Cry."
To what extent is the claim for compensation justified at this stage?
Is this a serial "whining", or is the finance policy really too rigid?
The Treasury says that the right thing to do is to wait at least until the end of the first quarter to determine whether compensation is needed at all.
According to them, if the omicron wave passes in a month, and businesses suddenly record a sharp increase in turnover that will make up for most of January's losses, there will be no need for compensation at all.
It may sound logical, but for business owners, who currently see no horizon and are fed by the alarming forecasts in the media - it does not help.
Any statement by Lieberman regarding dividends distributed last year irritates them even more, and produces tremendous media pressure aimed at receiving compensation.
So what is the right thing to do?
In reality, as is well known, there is no black and white.
Just a lot of shades of gray.
The generous compensation given in previous waves by the previous government has led to devastating economic consequences, which the economy is facing to this day.
The businesses also received full refunds for the decrease in turnover, and the workers were also expelled to the IDF at the expense of the state.
This policy has meant that some businesses, especially those that have been fatally hit and recorded a 60% or more drop in revenue, have received compensation that has caused them to show even better results if Corona had not been in the world.
At the time, the Bank of Israel warned of tens of thousands of businesses that had become "zombies" - in order to receive assistance from the state, they stopped their activities, without closing the case with the tax authority.
Regarding the challah policy, it can be said that the restaurateurs and traders have not yet been able to recover from its consequences even though it has long since ended - the severe shortage of workers in these industries continues.
Many young people just got used to not having to work, especially not in jobs like a waiter or a salesman in a mall store.
Some are helped by parents, some have increased their deficit in the bank or they have taken out loans.
Most countries in the world have not yet begun to compensate business owners for the consequences of the omicron wave, except in countries where there have been restrictions on economic activity or closures, such as the Netherlands.
Bottom line, those who are seriously injured must receive compensation for reasons of fairness, but not in a sweeping way as has been done in previous times.
Compensation must be more focused, and perhaps more limited.
The Israeli government must send a reassuring message to businesses - when exactly will the compensation be considered, because uncertainty is destructive to any business, and business owners deserve to know.
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