Yoel Zilberman has been working to raise awareness of the plight of Israel’s agricultural sector for over 15 years. The sector has been hit hard by changes to its iconic kibbutz model and vulnerable to criminality over the past three decades. Now, the sector has been thrown into further disarray following the horrific Hamas terror attacks on October 7, which devastated several farming communities and decimated their workforces.
Now Zilberman, co-founder and CEO of Hashomer Hachadasha rapidly growing Zionist organization that emphasizes its connection to the Land of Israel, it is time for the Jewish state and global Jewry to take action and reimagine this vital industry, not just to support struggling farmers or help rebuild communities destroyed by Hamas, but to secure the country’s food supply for future crises.
“It became very clear after October 7 that Israel was in a new phase,” Zilberman, 39, told eJP in a recent interview. “Israelis and world Jewry suddenly realized how important it is for us to have an independent food supply and how dangerous it is for us to be so dependent on imports from other countries.”
In contrast to Israel’s powerful defense systems and innovative energy sources, Zilberman says, less emphasis has been placed on agriculture and the food security it can provide. Instead, Israel relies heavily on products imported from countries such as Turkey, Jordan and Ukraine.
“I think (the current conflict) has made us all realize that we are too dependent on countries that suddenly can no longer provide us with food,” he said, highlighting Israel’s precarious relations with Turkey, which has already cut off imports, Jordan, which is highly critical of Israel over its military campaign in Gaza, and Ukraine, which is in the midst of its own unrest.
According to Zilberman, the Hamas attacks on Israel, which destroyed many farming communities in the Gaza Strip, and the subsequent evacuations in the south and north, have highlighted the crucial role such communities, scattered along Israel’s borders, can play in bolstering the country’s security.
And he believes that the shocks of October 7 will provide Israelis with an opportunity not only to “rebuild the security system in a new way,” but also to refocus Zionism with an emphasis on loving and cherishing the land.
Zilberman explained that this will require a real change in the Israeli mindset. He added: “We need to restore security to these areas first, and then we can rebuild the agricultural ecosystem differently, with a focus on high-tech, so that we can generate more food and make agriculture more profitable to sustain ourselves in the future.”
He is a former Israeli Navy SEAL who has been serving in the reserve since October 7. He said such changes were the only way to “get families to leave the center of the country and understand the mission of living on the borders of Israel, because this is the future of our security.”
The transition from startup nation to agritech innovation would also “provide solutions to a problem that concerns the entire world,” said Zilberman, who stressed that his goal is to transport goods mass-produced in Israel throughout the region and beyond.
“I believe this is the next phase for Zionism,” Zilberman continued. “It’s something that we’ve put aside for the last few decades because we thought it was more important to build the business community, and while that’s a very important and powerful engine for Israel, I think this war has made people realize that we need to get back to our roots, back to the land, because without that it’s going to be almost impossible to live here.”
Zilberman’s love for the land and his vision for Israel’s future grew out of his personal experiences as the son of a farmer in Moshav Tzippori in the Lower Galilee.
The self-described shepherd told eJP that as a young adult he was forced to protect his family’s property from thieves and criminals. It was during those years that he realized there was a “state epidemic” and “a deterioration of national and personal security in Israel.” Small, independent farmers were increasingly vulnerable and, according to Zilberman, would not survive without “a new Zionist movement to address the problem.”
Inspired by the “pioneering generation” that first settled the land of Israel, Zilberman co-founded Hashomer Hachadash (Hebrew for the New Guard) in 2007 with On Rifman of Kibbutz Revivim in the Negev.
“When you talk about agriculture and love for the land, that’s something that has completely collapsed since the ’80s — since the kibbutzim stopped functioning — and it became very clear to me that there was a younger generation that had never been exposed to the story of our land,” Zilberman explained, noting that loving and developing the land of Israel was a central tenet of early Zionist ideology that also served to connect Diaspora Jews to the Jewish state.
Over the years, Hashomer Hachadash has grown into one of the largest volunteer movements in Israel, with a quarter-million annual volunteers learning how to renew their connection to the Land of Israel through acts of “civic courage,” Zilberman described. With a range of educational programs starting with teens, he said the movement works to “build alliances between all parts of our nation and society.”
Thanks to this extensive network, Hashomer Hachadash was able to get to work almost immediately after October 7, providing farmers with the crucial support that enabled them to continue producing food for the country during a devastating war.
“Hashomer’s structure as the largest volunteer organization in Israel allowed us to be ready immediately,” Zilberman told eJP, describing how the movement quickly recruited volunteers from Israel and abroad to help.
“It saved the livelihoods of hundreds of farmers, and it saved hundreds of farms,” he continued, adding that the organization also helped them apply for government financial support and created loan opportunities for individuals concerned about the food supply chain.
It’s an ongoing process, Zilberman said, with Hashomer Hachadash continuing to facilitate volunteer opportunities and expand its educational programs. For example, it is opening two additional agricultural boarding schools, where students work half the day on farms. Hachadash is also pushing the government to make more Israelis understand the importance of agricultural communities to the country’s security.
It is part of an ecosystem that he hopes will eventually reach communities along the border, including those attacked on October 7. It will strengthen Israel’s agricultural sector and in turn protect the country’s borders from ongoing threats. It could also address the food insecurity that Israel and the world face.
