Building Israel's Small Business and Microenterprise Sector - Israel Entrepreneurial Finance Initiative
Milken Institute 2005
By: Glenn Yago and Betsy Zeidman

Excerpt:
Few of Israel's existing private and public financing initiatives target microenterprise. Two exceptions are the Economic Empowerment for Women (EEW) and the Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development (CAEJD), which are supported by the Koret Foundation. EEW is a nonprofit organization whose sole mission is to improve the lives of low-income women by providing them the tools and knowledge to build and sustain their own businesses. Its components include empowerment and life skills training, business plan development and business training, loan packages and technical assistance.

Microcredit and Incubators for Small Businesses
Women's Budget Forum, February 2006

Excerpt:
One means of increasing the participation of poor women in the job market and promoting their economic independence is to encourage small business development.
The economic growth process in Israel is generated by large corporations in export sectors that are knowledge- and capital-intensive, not labor-intensive. This process, by nature,does not create enough jobs relative to the number of job seekers, and it is not a realistic solution to the problems of unemployment and low job market participation by low wage earners, particularly women.Budget allocations are needed to help poor women start their own businesses. A good model is already up and operating.