The vision is to double Kiryat Shmona’s population within a decade and strengthen border-adjacent towns economically and demographically.

At the heart of the plan is a package of benefits: temporary tax benefits for companies, grants for relocating and establishing businesses, wage subsidies, income tax exemptions for residents – including high earners – and loans that become grants for those who make the city their home.

The goal is to attract strong families, professionals, and entrepreneurs to these cities, to bring in industry and technology companies, to improve the quality of healthcare and education services, and to strengthen the new university in Tel Hai by bringing in academic faculty.

Alongside this, the plan includes rapid improvements to public transportation within the region and to central Israel, the reopening of the Kiryat Shmona airfield with subsidized flights for area residents, and the establishment and operation of a fortified emergency room.

Border-adjacent communities are a vital part of Israel’s national security. In addition, Kiryat Shmona, Shlomi, and Metula are the core of the area’s demographic and economic growth potential: 66% of the population of the northern border communities lives in these towns.

Strengthening them demographically, socially, and economically will reinforce Israel’s resilience along the border and help drive growth across all northern communities.

Of course, this plan is part of a broader plan for the rehabilitation of the North.

Kiryat Shmona is a disaster-stricken city on the brink of collapse: about 40% of its residents have not returned, many businesses are struggling to survive, and many kindergartens are expected to close.

After two years, rehabilitation efforts – to the extent they were made at all – have failed.

The proposed model of a tax-free zone, limited in both area and time, is a growth engine that has been tried in economies around the world and proven effective in attracting companies, businesses, and individuals with significant potential to contribute to economic growth and improve quality of life.

The tax benefits currently available in the area are not delivering results.

For businesses: existing corporate tax benefits are partial and subject to limitations. Expanding the benefit to a full corporate tax exemption will allow most companies and industries in the north to benefit for a limited period. It will help factories recover from war damage, create an incentive to expand existing factories, and attract additional technology, defense, and agritech/food-tech companies to the region. These companies, in turn, will create many new, high-quality jobs. 

For residents: applying a 0% income tax exemption for individuals, including those with very high incomes, is expected to attract financially sound families and professionals and spur development in Kiryat Shmona, Shlomi, and Metula.

The individual income tax exemption will be granted to anyone who lived in Kiryat Shmona, Metula, or Shlomi for at least 12 months while the law is in effect. The exemption will apply for the period of residency.

Part of the Tnufa program budget should be redirected to implement the law and government resolution for the rehabilitation and growth of Kiryat Shmona, Metula, and Shlomi.

Over the past two and a half years, the government has failed – if it even tried – to rehabilitate the northern communities, and Kiryat Shmona in particular.

From what the government has announced so far, it is offering shopping vouchers for the city. But soon, there may be no businesses left to buy from.

Kiryat Shmona needs the tools to grow – not another one-time handout – in order to secure its future.

After coming to Kiryat Shmona with professional teams, sleeping in the city, and meeting with residents, business owners, and city leaders, we reached a clear conclusion: the city does not need another promise or declaration. The city needs a law.

That is why we drafted the Kiryat Shmona and Frontline Towns Act – to move the city and the entire North from collapse to renewal and growth.

The bill will designate Kiryat Shmona, Shlomi, and Metula as a national rehabilitation zone. That means every government ministry will be required to prioritize the area when allocating resources. This creates a legislative anchor that prevents future governments from neglecting the region.

The housing loan will be converted into a grant: a 400,000 shekel loan will be provided for purchasing a home in Kiryat Shmona, and after seven years of residence in the city, it will become a full grant – the money stays with you.

Kiryat Shmona needs a law and practical steps that will move the city and the entire North from collapse, to renewal and growth – from abandonment to attracting strong families who will come to live there and help drive growth for the entire region.

The benefits will help residents who stayed in Kiryat Shmona build and grow their businesses and companies. But above all, they will serve as an engine for bringing back those who left Kiryat Shmona, Metula, and Shlomi, and for turning these towns into a magnet for companies and individuals.

Strong families and professionals moving to the city will improve the quality of healthcare, education, and academia, and will form the workforce for the technology and industrial companies that come to the area.

The Kiryat Shmona Act will secure the future of the region and anchor it in law. Temporary government resolutions are only a band-aid.