Israel’s southern town of Yerucham is just some 126 km (78 miles) south of Tel Aviv, a two-hour leisurely drive, but it could feel like light years away from the nation’s secular high-tech mecca, where young entrepreneurs whiz from meetings at trendy cafes to hang out at the beach with friends after work hours, most likely lighting up a joint along with their chilled beer.
Not much happens in this sleepy town. But earlier this month, Yerucham saw some big-city action when busloads of businessmen and entrepreneurs arrived in the town, many of whom were likely visiting for the first time.
“A lot of businessmen came here for a conference, in many buses,” Biton said, his eyes lighting up, as earlocks shook at the side of his face, under a big knitted skullcap that covered his head. “They want to transform the city into a leading medical cannabis center.”
Indeed, some 270 entrepreneurs, including former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, came to the city to find out how Yerucham is the perfect location for cannabis research, cultivation and exports.
“In five years, Yerucham will be the capital of medical cannabis in Israel, nothing less,” Yerucham’s first woman mayor Tal Ohana, told the audience of investors, entrepreneurs and regulators who were in attendance. The industry can create 500 new, high-quality jobs in production, research and also exports, she told them, laying out her vision.
