JIMF is more than a financial resource.
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It is a vote of confidence in the ability of Jerusalem's women to lead, innovate, and prosper.
Over the 16 years to 2025, JIMF issued loans worth 6.93 million NIS to 448 different women.
Access to capital alone is not enough.
Sustainable economic empowerment requires vocational skills, mentorship, and ongoing support.
Student loans uplift needy young people into professions.
JIMF distributes loans every year to needy female students from Jerusalem studying in universities and colleges.
JIMF invests in supporting women and their businesses, lifting Jerusalem families out of poverty, and crossing ethnic and political boundaries to make a real difference.
Discover the
Power
of Microfinance
We provide interest-free loans to women entrepreneurs in Jerusalem's poorest communities.
Invest in the
Future of
University Students
JIMF distributes loans of 10,000 NIS to female students from Jerusalem studying at universities and colleges.
Our Mission: Economic Empowerment
Across Communal Lines
The Jerusalem Interest-Free Microfinance Fund (JIMF) was founded by Jewish and Muslim Londoners on a simple conviction: shared economic opportunity can build the trust that political dialogue alone cannot. By lifting individuals out of poverty across community boundaries, JIMF creates something larger than any single loan, a foundation for cohesion in one of the world's most divided cities. We invest in female entrepreneurs, supporting them with business consultancy and interest-free loans because it makes a real difference.
Jerusalem: A City of Immense Significance and Stark Inequalities
Nearly 40% of Jerusalem's residents live in poverty, with 60% of Arab Palestinian and 43% of Charedi (ultra-Orthodox) Jewish families living below the poverty line. Because these groups have large families and together comprise almost two-thirds of the city's population, Jerusalem is one of the poorest cities in Israel, with over 50% of its children growing up in unacceptable poverty.
Women in these communities face particularly steep economic barriers. Only 10% of working-age Arab women and 45% of Charedi women are economically active. Conventional banking is unreachable due to issues such as lack of collateral, cultural barriers, and religious prohibitions on interest.
Our Impact: Supporting Women Entrepreneurs in Jerusalem
JIMF provides interest-free microloans to entrepreneurs in Jerusalem's most disadvantaged communities, with a focus on Palestinian and Charedi women who have sound business ideas but no path to conventional finance. Behind every loan is a woman building something real: a healthcare practice, a food business, a retail enterprise. JIMF's model delivers capital and capability together, giving each borrower a genuine foundation to stand on, not just a leg up.
Over the 16 years to 2025, JIMF issued loans worth 6.93 million NIS to 448 different women.
Read these two independent Evaluation Reports - from 2021 and 2026
showing how JIMF helps our recipients with more than money.
Quotes from
our Recipients:
"JIMF and MATI gave me a chance to become part of this country and build a business here."
"One of the main accomplishments from the course was gaining the courage to speak to my bank manager, knowing what to say and how to argue my case."
“Through JIMF and the MATI program, I received not only crucial startup capital but also strategic business guidance to turn my vision into reality.”
“I didn’t realize how much my cancer had taken over my life, until I really began to recover and put myself back together at Beit Rafaela.”
Meet Our Jerusalem Partner
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