When Liron Birenzweig was evacuated from northern Israel after October 7, he was forced to rebuild both his life and the business he had spent years developing. What began as a small food stand near Kibbutz Dafna serving malabi, a popular Middle Eastern custard, had evolved into a thriving dessert enterprise – a shop, a catering operation and food truck. Then, overnight, everything was thrown into jeopardy.
“Being evacuated was very difficult. There was a feeling of helplessness, uncertainty and survival mode,” he recalled. “You don’t know how long it will last or where you’ll be. The evacuation set the business back five years.”
Rather than wait for compensation or try to recreate what he had lost, he adapted. He shifted operations south, expanded products that could be ordered in advance and delivered and developed new corporate-event offerings. The challenge was no longer simply survival: it was how to build a business capable of growing, hiring and withstanding future shocks.
Birenzweig's story reflects a broader reality in northern Israel. In the Western Galilee, where he founded his business, small businesses account for more than 90% of enterprises and over half of all jobs. More than 70% of businesses within three miles of the border reported revenue declines after October 7. When those businesses disappear, communities lose employers, services and part of the economic foundation needed for residents to return and stay.
That challenge is at the heart of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s (JDC) work with small- and medium-sized businesses in Israel’s hardest-hit regions. JDC, the global humanitarian organization whose mission includes supporting Israel’s most vulnerable populations, is addressing the needs of people whose lives and livelihoods have been upended by the war. Helping affected businesses strengthen their operations and contribute to the country’s long-term recovery has become a key part of that effort.
When labor disappears
The war revealed the extent to which many industries depended on labor-intensive processes and a stable workforce. Businesses across sectors suddenly faced major disruption, worker shortages and growing uncertainty, forcing many owners to rethink how they operated.
To help businesses adapt, JDC expanded its 360 Business Mentoring Program, which was already working before the war to raise productivity and improve job quality in sectors including construction, agriculture, manufacturing, commerce and services.
JDC-Tevet director Lior Schillat Photo: Sabine Sharon“When the war changed the economic reality, we quickly adapted the 360 program to provide practical, flexible solutions for businesses grappling with labor shortages, instability and rapid technological change,” said Lior Schillat, director of JDC’s Israel division focused on workforce development. Since late 2023, more than 320 businesses have participated in the program through emergency support, training, one-on-one mentoring and more.
The 360 program’s partners include the Ministry of Economy and Industry, Ministry of Labor, Israel National Digital Agency, Israel Innovation Authority, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and Ministry of Construction and Housing.
Daniel Mirman, a civil engineer with experience in infrastructure and technology startups, had long wanted to bring innovation into an industry he saw as highly conservative. After October 7, the need became far more urgent. Palestinian workers were no longer available, and bringing workers from India and China took months. Construction sites closed, while missile threats disrupted operations.
“Suddenly people understood how painful it is when there is no technology and everything depends on people,” Mirman said.
Mirman joined the first cohort of a 360 Business Mentoring program for innovation managers in construction. While in the program, he approached the Minrav Group with an unusual proposal: create an innovation manager position and let him fill it. The company agreed.
Daniel Mirman at one of his company's construction sites
(Photo: JDC)
Since taking on this role for the Minrav Group, Mirman has introduced drone-based monitoring, robotic painting technology and automated steel-ordering systems. One process that required engineers to spend 18 hours manually preparing orders can now be completed in minutes. “The barrier isn’t only finding a technology that can create value inside the company,” Mirman said. “There is a whole organizational psychology involved in implementation, getting people to see the innovation, work with it and change habits.”
From full hotels to empty rooms
Construction was not the only sector forced to rethink how it operated. In hospitality, where demand for hotel rooms can disappear almost overnight during periods of conflict, businesses face a different challenge: how to maintain service while operating more efficiently.
Oren Ranford measured economic vulnerability in empty hotel rooms. Ranford spent 11 years with the Domus hotel chain, including two as CEO. His tenure spanned the coronavirus pandemic and repeated reserve duty during the current war. During periods of conflict, demand for bookings can collapse overnight and remain depressed for weeks after the fighting ends.
“You go from a period of expansion, opening new hotels and Airbnb apartment complexes, from 100% occupancy and a sense of momentum, to practically zero occupancy,” he said.
Oren Ranford
(Photo: JDC)
He joined the 360 Program during one of the industry’s bleakest periods, initially resisting because he believed every available hour needed to go toward keeping the business running. “In retrospect, it was one of the best decisions I made that year,” he said.
Through the program, Domus connected smart locks to an AI-enabled WhatsApp system and its hotel-management software. Guests could reserve, pay for, and access rooms through their phones, while employees were freed from routine administrative tasks and could focus on guest service.
Oren Ranford with his former employees at the Domus hotel chain
(Photo: JDC)
Ranford said the system eliminated 16 daily front-desk shifts across eight hotels while adding four shifts focused more heavily on the guest experience. “The goal is not to replace staff with technology, but to use technology to eliminate unnecessary tasks so staff can focus on what they do best: hospitality,” he said.
Turning potential into growth
Surviving a crisis is one challenge – growing beyond it is another. For small businesses with strong potential, the biggest obstacles are often limited management capacity, outdated systems and difficulty accessing the investment needed for expansion.
To help address those barriers, JDC launched the Growth Generator initiative in partnership with Netzer Capital, a fund that invests in small and growing businesses, and 8200 for Small Businesses, an initiative of the 8200 Alumni Association that connects entrepreneurs with experienced business and technology leaders.
Growth Generator is designed not simply to help businesses recover, but to prepare them for what comes next and help promising companies in Israel’s periphery scale and attract investment. JDC helps identify potential businesses through local authorities and business associations; Netzer Capital provides professional assessment of their capabilities and investment potential; and 8200 for Small Businesses operates the mentoring program and provides hands-on support to the selected companies.
Through the initiative, entrepreneurs gain access to business expertise, technology guidance and investor connections, culminating in a “Demo Day” where founders present their businesses to potential backers.
Birenzweig’s malabi dessert company was among the businesses participating in the program’s first cohort. At the time, his business, despite ambitions for industrial-scale production, was still being run through six or seven separate Excel spreadsheets. Leads, payments and revenue had to be updated manually across multiple files. “My time is the most expensive resource in the business,” he said.
Birenzweig at the reopening of the Malabi business in 2016
(Photo: Shai Masinter)
Through the program, he consolidated that information into a single management system – a change he estimates saves him four to five hours each week. He now employs five to seven workers and is preparing for a much bigger leap: a production facility capable of producing thousands of units a day and an expanded range of desserts. “I’m aiming for the highest levels,” he said.
“JDC doesn’t believe in one-off assistance that simply puts a bandage on the problem,” Schillat said. “We believe in a deep, individualized process with business owners, aimed at helping them build stronger companies and create opportunities for others.”
Sustaining that growth, he said, requires partnerships across government, local authorities, investors and the private sector, connecting entrepreneurs with the expertise, networks and capital they need to expand. “When we do that, businesses raise productivity, create high-quality jobs for people in the North and the periphery, and help strengthen the Israeli economy as a whole,” Schillat said.
For Birenzweig, however, the ambition is personal and local. “What I love most about the business is the direct relationship with my employees,” he said. “Great people come to me and stay for a long time, and I feel I’m able to give some of them a platform for personal development.”
“My business is here to stay, expand and succeed in the North,” Birenzweig said.
A dessert company, a construction firm and a hotel chain may have little in common, yet each arrived at the same conclusion: the business models that served them well yesterday are not enough for the Israel of today. For JDC, that insight points to the next phase of economic renewal: businesses that adopt new technologies, strengthen management practices and attract investment can do more than survive disruption. They can create jobs, support communities, and help power Israel’s long-term economic future.
- In collaboration with JDC in Israel