Hezbollah’s rockets shatter ‘Israel’s Northern foodtech vision

“Hezbollah’s rockets dismantled the food tech vision in the Galilee,” reads a headline from Israeli website Calcalist.

According to the report, several companies specializing in food and agriculture have relocated due to Resistance-led operations in Lebanon on the northern front of occupied Palestine.

The website recalls that the “Israeli vision” involved creating regional centers of expertise, with Beer al-Sabe as a hub for computing and information networks, and the occupied Galilee, particularly Kiryat Shmona, as a center for food tech and agricultural technology.

In 2018, Israeli authorities decided to invest 100 million shekels (about 27 million dollars) in the occupied Galilee to support food and agricultural industries.

The Israeli Innovation Authority supported these companies with investments worth six million dollars in 2023 in companies located up to 10 kilometers from the northern border and provided nearly two million dollars in grants.

Prior to the start of the war, Kiryat Shmona hosted 90 startups and 500 workers, and since October 7, no food tech companies have remained in the settlement in northern occupied Palestine.

The companies, along with supporting bodies, incubators, and relief organizations, have moved to southern occupied Palestine due to intensified bombardment at the border, which has targeted Israeli settlements and displaced over 80,000 settlers.

Calcalist suggests that “Israel” may struggle to achieve its “Northern Prosperity Vision” without changes in its policies, even if a ceasefire or long-term truce is established.

Entrepreneurs and project owners have expressed concerns about Kiryat Shmona’s future. They report that “30% of Kiryat Shmona’s residents do not want to return” and blame the leadership for their displacement, stating that “it depends on what the government offers to facilitate our return.”

They told Calcalist that “The promise of future security is also uncertain. There is no clear outlook for security there, with hundreds of rockets and missiles falling, and the support we received was minimal.”

They added that “security is essential, and there is no clear direction for that.”