Yashar! party chairman and prime ministerial candidate Gadi Eisenkot visited Margalit Startup City in Kiryat Shmona on Sunday, touring one of northern Israel's leading high-tech centers.
"Strengthening the North and ensuring its prosperity is a national and security mission of the highest order," Eisenkot said at the end of the visit. "When we form the next government, rebuilding the North will be high on our list of priorities."
Erel Margalit, founder and executive chairman of JVP and Margalit Startup City, hosted Eisenkot at Margalit Startup City Galil in Kiryat Shmona. During the visit, Eisenkot met entrepreneurs, business owners, representatives of high-tech companies and members of Galiladies, a community for women in the Galilee, and heard about the center's recovery and growth initiatives since the outbreak of the war.
Eisenkot, a former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff who does not often comment publicly on economic matters, was shown the extensive network developed in the Galilee in recent years, connecting entrepreneurship, innovation, research, academia, education and community development.
Before the war, more than 100 startups operated at Margalit Startup City Galil. Since the war ended, more than 30 companies have returned to the area, alongside continued investment in small businesses, entrepreneurship programs and efforts to strengthen local communities.
"Strengthening the North and ensuring its prosperity involves many stages, beginning with security and civilian protection, continuing with the return of residents to their homes and schools, and ensuring that they can earn a living," Eisenkot said. "This is a national and security mission of the highest order. I have toured northern communities dozens of times in recent weeks and met residents and local leaders. They deserve much more, and we will make sure they receive it. In the coming days, we will publish Yashar!'s comprehensive plan for rebuilding the North. When we form the next government, the North, its recovery and its prosperity will be at the top of our agenda. To secure the future of the North, the state must invest in long-term engines of growth and genuine recovery. No more empty declarations, only targets and results."
Margalit said he was pleased to host Eisenkot at Margalit Startup City Galil and "show him that tomorrow is already being built here." "The Galilee can become one of the State of Israel's greatest engines of growth," Margalit said. "When vision, innovation, entrepreneurship and partnership come together, results follow. Precisely at a time when residents, teachers and students, small businesses and entrepreneurs are confronting the most difficult circumstances and choosing to continue initiating projects, building and establishing companies in the Galilee, it is our responsibility to provide them with the tools, opportunities and hope they need. That is the foundation of genuine recovery. The State of Israel, and the North in particular, now needs a new chapter of growth, recovery and hope, built on a genuine partnership among the business sector, entrepreneurs, academia and public policymakers. We have already proved that the foundations can be built. Now is the time to turn the Galilee into a national engine of growth."
During the tour, Eisenkot and Margalit discussed the challenges facing northern communities and the need to accelerate the return of residents, jobs and investment to the region. Officials at Margalit Startup City Galil stressed that rebuilding the North could not be limited to reconstructing infrastructure. It would require long-term investment in innovation, high-quality employment, entrepreneurship and stronger communities to transform the Galilee into one of the State of Israel's principal engines of growth.
