Israel's Ministry of Economy funds Tkuma business grants for Gaza envelope companies. Here's who qualifies, how much money is available, and how to apply.
Israel's Ministry of Economy and Industry, working with the Tkuma Directorate, runs Tkuma business grants for companies in the Gaza envelope region. The program covers up to 50% of an approved investment plan, capped at NIS 30 million per business, and had approved roughly NIS 112 million in grants across close to 200 businesses as of January 2025. This explainer covers who qualifies and how to apply, compiled from Hebrew-language government, industry, and business-press sources; it has not been reported in English media.
What Is the Tkuma Business Grants Program?
The Tkuma Directorate is the Israeli government agency created in October 2023, under the Prime Minister's Office, to rebuild the 45 towns and kibbutzim devastated in the Hamas-led attack. Its mandate spans the Eshkol, Hof Ashkelon, Sdot Negev, and Sha'ar HaNegev regional councils, plus the city of Sderot, collectively referred to in Israeli government documents as the Tkuma region or the Gaza envelope.
Economic rehabilitation is one pillar of that broader mandate, alongside housing, education, and mental health support. On the economic side, the Ministry of Economy and Industry's Investment Authority runs the Tkuma business grants track for the region, published under Director-General Instruction 4.74 and consolidated on a government grants portal that lists it alongside the Authority's other national investment-incentive programs.
The core track, launched in mid-2024, allocated NIS 70 million for businesses to invest in new equipment and machinery, construction, environmental development, renovation, and business-plan preparation. It runs alongside other Tkuma-linked funding: a separate hotel and hospitality development track offering up to a third of construction costs, and an Israel Innovation Authority program funding agricultural-technology pilots at Tkuma-region farms and research sites.
Who Qualifies for a Grant?
Eligibility runs on two tests. The first is business structure: any corporation, licensed dealer ("osek murshe"), or exempt dealer ("osek patur") across any sector of the economy can apply. The second is location and timing: the business must have been physically operating within the officially defined Tkuma region as of October 6, 2023, the day before the attack.
That date requirement is the program's central design choice. It targets businesses that were already established in the region and disrupted by the war and the mass evacuation that followed, rather than new arrivals seeking to capture the incentive after the fact.
How Much Money Is Available and What Can It Cover?
The grant covers up to 50% of an approved investment plan, with a maximum eligible investment of NIS 30 million per business. Eligible spending includes direct construction, environmental development around business premises, and new equipment or machinery registered as fixed assets in the company's books. The program also covers "soft" costs, including consultant fees for preparing the grant application and business plan, which matters for smaller operators who cannot absorb that overhead on their own.
On results: a Hebrew-language business press report from January 2025 found that within the government's broader 2024-2028 strategic plan for economic rehabilitation of the Tkuma region, close to 200 of 312 submitted applications had been approved, totaling NIS 112 million in grants. Roughly NIS 10 million of that went to businesses in the Eshkol Regional Council, with the remainder split across Sha'ar HaNegev, Sdot Negev, and Hof Ashkelon. Total investment scope, including the businesses' own matching capital, was reported at over NIS 220 million, meaning private co-investment roughly matched the public grant money.
How Do Businesses Apply?
Applications go through the Investment Authority's grants portal, where the Tkuma-region tracks sit alongside the Authority's other national programs. Applicants submit a business plan and supporting documentation; approved applicants receive "approved enterprise" status, which under Israel's Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments also carries a reduced corporate tax rate, in addition to the grant itself.
Application windows for individual tracks open and close on a rolling basis rather than staying open year-round, so a business needs to check the specific, currently open call for proposals rather than assume standing eligibility. Both the Tkuma Directorate and the Ministry have continued to open new allocation rounds through 2026, including a capital-investment track for business stabilization offering up to 50% state co-investment.
Why Hasn't This Been Covered in English Media?
English-language outlets have covered adjacent pieces of the broader Tkuma reconstruction effort. The Jerusalem Post has reported on the separate hotel-development subsidy track in the region, and on a mid-2026 dispute in the Knesset Finance Committee over delayed transfers and budget-utilization reporting tied to the Tkuma Directorate's much larger NIS 1.1 billion allocation. Times of Israel has covered the Economy Ministry's broader small-and-medium-business funding initiatives, but not this specific regional track.
The Tkuma business grants program detailed here, including the NIS 112 million approval figure and the underlying eligibility rules, appears to exist only in Hebrew-language sources: Israeli business press, the Ministry's own government pages, and accounting and industry-association writeups aimed at Israeli applicants. For English-speaking philanthropists, diaspora business owners with ties to the region, or organizations weighing co-investment in the Gaza envelope's recovery, that gap has meant the basic mechanics of the program, who qualifies, how much is available, and how to apply, have not been readily accessible.
This kind of regional economic detail sits alongside The Olam's other city- and region-level coverage, such as our profile of the Petah Tikva economy and reporting on the broader costs Israeli policy imposes on business. Readers interested in how The Olam sources and verifies claims like these can review our research methodology page, or learn more about The Olam as a publication.