Israeli non-profit mobilizes over 100,000 volunteers to save farms after Oct 7 Hamas attacks

More than 100,000 people answered the call to save Israel’s farms, after foreign workers fled the agricultural sector following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in the south and Hezbollah’s shelling of northern Israel.

Across the country, Israeli farmers were left without workers – either because laborers were killed in the Oct. 7 massacre or because they were called up for reserve duty in the Israel Defense Forces. The Thai government, for example, evacuated its citizens working in Israel on emergency flights.

“I told my wife that we would have to close the business,” Yuval Shargian, a farmer from Tzofit, recalled. “I felt that I couldn't manage it alone anymore.” Without workers, the produce rotted in the fields, placing food security in the country at tremendous risk. 

That was until a call went out for volunteers and they came – and continue to come –  by the thousands, including to Shargian’s farm. 

"Closing your business is not an option; if you close, they win,” the volunteers from Tel Aviv told him –  people of all ages who were not used to laboring outside in the sun. Their words gave him hope.“Their presence revitalizes us and gives us the boost we need to keep going,” Shargian said.

Across Israel, volunteers of all ages and backgrounds flocked to the farms. The effort was organized by Leket Israel, an organization founded in 2003 by American-born oleh (immigrant) Joseph Gitler to combat food insecurity. Even before Oct. 7, Leket was rescuing surplus food and produce from farms, packing houses, hotels, corporate cafeterias, and even IDF bases to redistribute to those in need.

“In the past, farmers were forced to discard fruit and vegetables they could not sell at the market,” Gitler said. “There's so much food here, but at the same time, there are many struggling families. We needed to put the two together.”

Sarah is an American who immigrated to Israel from the U.S. in 2020. Volunteering at a farm, together with her mother, gives her a strong connection to the land:

“I think there's something so special about having the opportunity to work the land in Israel,” Sarah told Ynet. “It's really a blessing to get to actually come and get to know the agricultural sector and really work the land ourselves.”

She is not the only one. Another volunteer described how the work in the field unites people: “Hamas tried to break us, and instead, they united us.”

Volunteers, both Jews and non-Jews, also came from abroad, among them Stephan, who traveled from Germany with his wife.

“In the end of the day, you are tired but happy and you think, okay, we did a good thing today," he said.

For Shargian, the volunteers have meant everything.

“If Leket had not…brought the volunteers, I'm almost positive that I would go bankrupt. I would have had to close the business. They saved me, literally,” he said.

Leket still receives so many volunteer requests that they have had to find new farmers to support. 

“I think a lot of people from outside Israel are looking for ways to connect,” said Dina Michael Chaitowitz, a volunteer from the U.S. “And I think it's really special that Leket is offering this opportunity.”