Lior Moshayev – Business owner in the envelope who is in reserve on the Finance Committee | Knesset Channel
Since the beginning of the fighting, 91% of women who own an independent business whose spouses were drafted into the reserves have experienced significant economic damage, according to data collected by the Forum of Reservists' Wives.With this understanding that women on the home front, who have to juggle between caring for children at home and running a business, are the first to be harmed financially, the "Building an Alternative" movement is setting up 50 websites for business owners who were damaged in the war.
Moran Zar-Katzenstein, "Building an Alternative", Photo: Yossi Zeliger
The move was made in cooperation with Wix, Shopping IL and Link 19 – a company that establishes websites where women from the south work. As part of the project, the selected women receive a new logo, promotion in Google's Market Place, professional training, lectures, and more. The women chosen to participate were women who reported an economic hit to their income of at least 50%.
At the same time, the initiative will also support another 250 women who own their own businesses, promoting and exposing their websites to help attract more customers.
Finance Committee with the participation of business owners in reserve (archive), photo: Noam Moshkovitz/Knesset Spokesperson's Office
The "Building an Alternative" movement was founded in 2020 to promote social equality and women's empowerment. Moran Zar-Katzenstein, a social activist and founder of the movement, says: "We know that in times of crisis and emergency, women are the ones who will be hit first. We saw in the NSC study that during the pandemic, and following cabinet decisions, women were disproportionately harmed.
Fighting in Gaza, archive, photo: IDF Spokesperson
"As soon as the war broke out, we realized that women were going to be harmed this time as well, and we decided to focus on the economic aspect. In the first stage, we carried out a process designed to help women who own an independent business, so that they can continue to provide their services and survive." The cost of the project is several hundred thousand shekels, and no payment was collected from the participants.
Cabinet meeting (archive), photo: Miriam Elster/Flash90
Moran criticizes government decisions regarding women and economic aspects. As is well known, there is no minister in the economic cabinet, and in a government where there is no director general in any of the government ministries, the manner in which decisions are made should cause concern for everyone.
"Helplessness"
"There is a feeling that the government does not understand the incident," she says. "Decisions are being made that directly harm the women of the reservists. There are many evacuated women whose spouses are in reserve, and they still do not know what is going to happen to them. The helplessness of women – who are both in economic and family uncertainty as well as in physical, existential uncertainty – is incomprehensible. It seems that from an economic perspective, we have learned nothing from the coronavirus.
"As with COVID-19, women are the first to be affected" (Illustration), Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto
"The government is not making efforts around the table in making decisions regarding women, and that's while women currently hold the country's economy. This government simply does not prioritize women and does not understand that along the way it harms women on the home front, harms children and harms our economic and social resilience."
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us