The factory is expected to absorb about 50 new employees, and the Ministry intends to invest NIS 1 million in its development and infrastructure.
"The establishment of the cannabis factory in the city of Yeruham is another step in the direction I set for the development of the country's periphery, regarding advanced production factories and developing sectors," said Economy and Industry Minister Amir Peretz. "We in the ministry will continue to support the production of new jobs for residents of Israel's periphery." The company's complex will include an approved factory for the production of cannabis products, R&D laboratories, quality assurance, a plant for the production of nutritional supplements and cosmetics combined CBD and HMP (HEMP), and storage, packaging, and distribtution centers. In 2020, the Knesset was leaning towards cannabis legalization, but ended up pushing off voting on the bill. In December, Israeli cannabis company Panaxia announced that they had become the first company in Israel to receive a commercial license from the Health Ministry to export medical cannabis to Germany.
Idan Zonshine contributed to this report.
Medical cannabis patients in Germany, home to the world's fastest growing medical cannabis market outside of the US, received a welcome gift for Christmas Eve after Israel's leading medical cannabis company, Panaxia, completed its first commercial export of medical cannabis products to the country.In addition, the IDF recently announced a new reform in which officers and NCOs would no longer necessarily be at risk of criminal charges if they smoke cannabis on leave, and would have the option to receive a plea, a benefit which other soldiers have been entitled to.