Israel’s Agricultural Sector Comes Under Fire

Following the Oct. 7 attacks and rocket barrages, farms near Israel's borders are suffering from a lack of workers or have been abandoned. The growing shortage of produce is noticeable on supermarket shelves.

Early on Saturday, Oct. 7, when Hamas began firing a barrage of rockets over Israel, Marcelo Wasser headed for the safe room in his house in Kibbutz Nirim, in southern Israel near the Gaza border.

As soon as he thought the rocket attack was over, he rushed to check the cowshed on the dairy farm he manages. There he found seven dead cows amid exploded water pipes, with rising water threatening to drown the remaining hundreds of cows and calves. Oblivious that Hamas terrorists had infiltrated the kibbutz and were walking around shooting residents, he went home, where his wife quickly pulled him back into the safe room. They hid there for 14 hours, together with their 9-month-old grandson, trying to keep the baby quiet so the terrorists would not notice that anyone was at home.

Wasser’s story is the story of many of the survivors of Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel. The rural lands bordering the Gaza Strip, filled with dairy farms and crop fields, make up a significant part of Israel’s agriculture. Their produce is consumed by Israelis and exported around the world.

Wasser has lived on the kibbutz since 1976 and has always played an active part in the dairy farm, which he now manages.

“The farm has taken a lot of fire throughout the years,” he told The Media Line. “But this time was different, the fire didn’t stop.”

According to the Israel Cattle Breeders Association, there are 16 dairy farms on the border with the Gaza Strip. After the attack, 12 quickly returned to work. Wasser’s farm now has fewer workers, who take turns working under the constant, unrelenting barrages of rocket fire. Kibbutz Nirim provides milk for one of Israel’s largest dairy product producers, but since the escalation began, no one has come to collect the milk, and it is being thrown away. That is also the case for most of the dairy farms in the south.

“We are now doing the minimum necessary,” Wasser said. “The destruction is immense.”

There was no understanding of how much agriculture is the keeper of Israel’s borders. Our farmers are on the frontier, and this was not prioritized.

Much of Israel’s agriculture is on its borders. In the south, with a full-fledged war now underway, most farms are unmanned or minimally staffed. But in the north too, on the borders with Syria and Lebanon, tensions are simmering, and some areas have been evacuated or closed by the army, while in others farmers risk their lives.

“There was no understanding of how much agriculture is the keeper of Israel’s borders. Our farmers are on the frontier, and this was not prioritized,” said Liat Cohen, a spokesperson for Hashomer Hachadash, a volunteer organization dedicated to safeguarding the lands and farms in southern and northern Israel.

Many farm workers in Israel come from Thailand, and almost 30 Thai nationals were killed in the Hamas attack. Others have been injured or abducted by Hamas. Many surviving Thai workers have decided to leave the country.

The result is a growing shortage of produce on supermarket shelves.

In recent years, the agricultural sector has been critical of successive Israeli governments for neglecting local producers. Strict regulations and the high costs of water and labor have made agriculture in Israel a struggle for farmers. In an attempt to lower the cost of living in Israel, the government removed import tariffs and opened the market to imports, making foreign produce more attractive to consumers. As a result, the number of farmers in Israel has decreased drastically.

Located in a largely hostile neighborhood, Israel is characterized as an island economy that cannot rely on its neighbors for produce. This was highlighted during the recent pandemic but did not change government policy.

“This is a matter of food security for the State of Israel, but initially the reason for the presence of agriculture in Israel’s periphery was the security necessity of having the country’s borders populated, and this has been taken for granted throughout the years,” Gidi Kroch, CEO of Leket Israel, Israel’s national food bank, told The Media Line.

Israel needs a strong agricultural sector, there is no other choice. We expect the shortages to worsen as the crisis continues.

“Israel needs a strong agricultural sector, there is no other choice,” he said. “We expect the shortages to worsen as the crisis continues. Consumers will demand supplies and the state will likely allow for more imports. If so, at the very least the farmers should be compensated.”

Shai Zohar, an engineer at an Israeli tech firm and father of three daughters who lives in central Israel, told The Media Line that he was volunteering for farm work in the south because he understood its importance. Zohar said he had grown up in an agricultural community on Israel’s northern border, often targeted by rocket fire from Lebanon.

“I understood immediately that the farmers in the south would be in despair, and I came to volunteer,” he said. “I know that crops are time-sensitive and there is no time to waste.”

Zohar is now helping to pick tomatoes, which were on the verge of becoming overripe, on a farm in Yated, near the border with Gaza. With the help of armed guards, he and others rush to save the crops.

“As we pick the tomatoes, we hear the sounds of war in the background, artillery fire, and fighter jets in the air,” he said. “I am encouraged by the military retaliation, but also it feels good to help and it helps me overcome the fear.”

Liat Cohen, who matches farmers in need with volunteers, said that over 2,500 people had offered to help with farm work. Each day, some 150 volunteers are tasked with different jobs around the country. Some pick crops, while others who have weapons licenses accompany them.

Another project sponsored by Hashomer Hachadash is bringing young people evacuated from southern Israel to work on farms in different areas, which keeps them busy and gives them a sense of purpose.

“It is the order of the day to enable the farmers to cultivate their lands safely,” Cohen said.

Meanwhile, as southern Israel remains under fire, many orphaned crop fields will soon die.

Wasser said that after the war, he has no doubt that he will return to his dairy farm. He said his family begs him not to return to the farm now to check on it, but he insists, saying he cannot leave his colleagues and workers alone.

“I know this makes no sense, but if we won’t be here, someone else will take the land,” he said.