Debts, cancellations and empty hotels: The tough summer for business owners in the north

On Route 90 on the way to the Upper Galilee, we are driving behind a Citroen car without license plates, with a peeling sticker of the Israeli flag on the bumper and a huge, prominent sticker on the windshield: 'Thank God' — a fitting metaphor for the situation in the north. Residents and business owners are still struggling to recognize the place that was here before October 7, trust in the state has been shaken, and sometimes all that remains for some of them is faith, mainly in themselves.

'I am doing everything to survive, not giving up and fighting tooth and nail,' says Asteri Tal, owner of the furniture and home goods store 'Moroccan Fantasy' in Kibbutz Mahanayim. 'The decrease in income in the store is about 40% compared to pre-war.' According to her, she starts the month with expenses: for merchandise, for employee salaries, and for rent of about 500 square meters. 'We were forced to part with many employees. I am cutting back in all directions, I returned warehouses, turned half the store into a warehouse, and reduced the frequency of trips to Morocco to bring merchandise. I am doing it now mainly remotely.'

The visit to the place takes place in the height of summer, and despite this, the store is empty. 'In July-August before the war, it was packed here,' she recalls, 'but now the store is desolate. You feel the decline in domestic tourism everywhere here — in businesses, on the roads. The north was a place of pilgrimage, especially during holidays and vacations, but since the war, very many businesses have closed, B&Bs have closed. Many of my friends and business owners have left the north. Following the evacuation, many also did not return. In Kiryat Shmona, the situation is grim.'