The discussion around Kiryat Shmona often moves between sympathy and quick solutions. The city is clearly struggling. But it is important to say this plainly: Its problems did not begin with the war. Like many places on Israel’s geographic margins, for years, Kiryat Shmona has dealt with limited job opportunities, weak infrastructure, and little long-term planning. The war did not create these issues. It exposed them.
The fighting hit the city hard, but the deeper impact was on its people. Many young residents left the North and spent close to two years living elsewhere in the country. They experienced a different reality, and many returned with the same conclusion. They are tired of feeling like an afterthought. They want decent schools, a cultural life, and real opportunities for themselves and their children. Not temporary benefits and not special discounts, but a future. Older residents mostly returned. Younger ones are still asking whether there is a reason to stay.
Against this backdrop, familiar ideas have resurfaced: Declaring Kiryat Shmona a free trade zone; exempting it from VAT; offering tuition grants or housing discounts for soldiers and reservists. These proposals are not cynical, and they are often well-intentioned, but they miss the core issue. They are short-term fixes for problems that have been building for decades.
Turning the city into a shopping or tourism destination will not change its trajectory. While tourism already exists in the North, even in calmer years, it never anchored Kiryat Shmona’s economy.
Most visitors stay in nearby kibbutzim or in the Golan Heights. The city itself remains a place people pass through. A VAT exemption might bring busier weekends and a sense of movement, but it will not stop young people from leaving or attract professionals as a place to build their lives.
The same is true for tuition grants and housing incentives. These tools can help, but only if there is something to stay for. If young people study, buy homes, and then leave because there are no good jobs and no clear professional horizon, the cycle simply repeats. Cities grow around opportunity, not affordability alone.
Long-standing challenges facing Kiryat Shmona
The challenges facing Kiryat Shmona are older than the war, which only deepened existing gaps. Public transportation is limited. Advanced healthcare is far away. Higher education institutions and strong employment centers are missing. Without serious and sustained investment in these basics, no benefit package will last very long.
There is no fast way out of this. What the North needs is a long-term plan and the patience to see it through. A university could serve as a real anchor. Focused investment in industries that the region is already trying to develop, such as food tech, could create momentum. When quality jobs arrive, people follow. When people stay, communities grow.
Kiryat Shmona can still succeed. Life in central Israel is becoming increasingly expensive, crowded, and exhausting. Many families would gladly choose the North if the opportunities were real. That will only happen if policymakers stop chasing quick wins and start committing to solutions.
Rebuilding the North will not come from magic solutions, but from long-term thinking and real commitment.
The writer is the CEO and founder of Good Quality, a company specializing in software testing and automation development, based in Ofakim, with operations in the United States and South America.