The reservists were called up on 7 October to serve the country and enlisted without a moment of hesitation or looking back. The reservists also include small business owners who are forced to cope, beyond the front, with the expenses and operations of businesses left behind and with the negative impact on revenues. There are also those who have to deal with waiving basic expenses such as kindergarten. Small business owners who have not seen their families in the past month told us about the economic struggles that accompany the war.
Tamir Goldfarb (32), married with two young children, aged two and a half and nine months, is a soldier in an infantry company in an armored battalion, a forward company inside Gaza. Goldfarb talks about the effects of the war on business, and the significant concessions he had to make in expenses.
Closed businesses, photo: Coco
"I have two businesses," he says, "an employee placement company in central Tel Aviv and an online flower shop called Love and Roses. Last Sunday, I returned for the first time from 7 October for a 24-hour after.
"Since the war, it's not me operating the business, but my partner, who is in reserve duty on the home front. In addition, out of 100% of the activity, only 15% exist, so we put employees on unpaid leave. We are waiting for compensation and updates. I wasn't available at all during this time, so I couldn't catch up. For us, as far as business is concerned, all expenses are as usual. We have to pay rent, pay suppliers, and revenues are low."
Asked what he expects from the state, he replies: "I'm COVID-42. During the coronavirus period, I received grants, and in the end, because of bureaucracy, I had to return <>,<> shekels. I don't know what I'll have left in the end of what I'm likely to get.
"There's something that really bothers me. I have two small children, and the cost of each private kindergarten is 3,500 shekels. In October, the gardens didn't work because of the holidays and because of the war. We put our eldest son in kindergarten at the beginning of November, and because of the high cost, we didn't put our youngest son. My wife will earn 50% less than her salary this month because she had to be with the children while I'm in the reserves, and we're left with a lot of expenses. I expect the state to provide assistance."
Jonathan Schneider (28) from Kfar Saba owns a food business called Bansher, which offers bans with meat. Schneider says: "I serve in the 71st Battalion, the 55th Brigade in Company B of the Paratroopers. We were the first reserve battalion to be deployed to Gaza village on 7 October. I personally haven't gone home since then, and tomorrow I'm expected to go after.
"As far as my business is concerned, I've closed the business for now because I manage the employees every day and I have employees who are teenagers and go to high school. I can't let them run the business. Of course, this decision has an economic impact."
All revenue decreased
Asked if he knows what he is likely to receive as compensation from the state, he replies: "It's clear that every day you don't make a profit, you also lose money. There's inventory that I bought just before they bounced us, and there's all the ongoing expenses like rent and municipal taxes."
Adv. Dvir Indig, Lieutenant Colonel (res.) and battalion commander, is the CEO of Brickstone, which operates safe deposit boxes in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Indig, who also serves as chairman of Tzu 8, talks about the impact the situation has on the number of active employees. "I had an 'obscene custom' of employing only combat officers, and now out of 15 employees, 14 are in Order 8. The only combat left to work is now in the formation of the units. He owns both compounds in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, which is very difficult. Also, revenue is declining during this period. I expect the state to provide real compensation and indemnity, not only to the employees but also to the business owners. Our turnover has dropped by 30% or even 40%."
Closed businesses in Ramat Gan // Photo: Yehoshua Yosef,
Gal Shor (34), who owns a complementary medicine center in Tel Aviv, is also in reserve duty in an operational war room. "I make 30,3 shekels a month and I have 000,<> shekels left after expenses. It's a ridiculous profit, but I manage to handle it because I have a new little business. Right now what's happening is that I have no income, but all the expenses continue.
"I received 6,317 shekels from the army. What am I supposed to do with it? I don't know what. My business's rent alone is 7,605 shekels, and that's before expenses. I don't know what I'm doing with this ridiculous amount. I left everything on 8 October to defend the country, and I wonder what will happen in a month or two. I've been walking around in a state of ignorance and helplessness for the past few days. If on the one hand the state says, 'Come protect me,' and on the other hand throws me to the dogs and doesn't protect me, then what am I doing here?"
"Not caught"
Adv. Roy Cohen, President of Lahav - The Association of Self-Employed and Business Organizations in Israel, refers to the rights of the self-employed who have been called up for reserve duty. According to him, "Self-employed persons who were called up for reserve duty receive compensation from the National Insurance Institute in accordance with the arrangement we reached following Lahav's demand. The National Insurance Institute will pay benefits to the self-employed at the beginning of November without waiting for the end of reserve service as stipulated in the regular law.
Taurus wave,
"At the moment, it is critical that reservists who own businesses recruited under Order 8 receive credit facilities, and will not return checks for merchandise, inventories and rent."
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