The Israeli restaurant chain Boker Tov in Belgium has filed for bankruptcy. According to the owners, Tom Sas and Lori Dardikman, the closure followed a sustained wave of hate messages, review-bombing, harassment and death threats that began after Hamas’ October 7 massacre.
About a week ago, the owners published a social media post announcing that they were “taking a break.” With that announcement, the chain’s last remaining branch, located in Antwerp, was closed. Some commenters on social media claimed that the fast-expanding chain had been facing financial difficulties even before the boycotts, but Sas said the shutdown was “100% because of antisemitism.”
He said the chain, which offered a Mediterranean menu, opened five years ago and eventually operated four restaurants. “We sold our hummus, baba ghanoush and other products in 300 supermarkets. We were catering partners at several major festivals. We’ve now closed all four of our restaurants, and the investors who were lining up until then all pulled out in the fourth quarter of 2023.”
What did you experience?
“The hatred is so widespread. Anything that smells, looks or sounds Jewish or Israeli is now fair game for boycotts. We filed four official complaints, and all of them were closed with the claim that there was no offense — everything is defined as ‘freedom of expression.’ But for us, freedom of expression ends when it harms others.”
What’s next?
“Our original plan was to open two new restaurants every year, so now we’ll try to reopen just one.”
Politics on a plate
Boker Tov introduced European diners to Israeli–Mediterranean cuisine, pairing coffee with hummus, chopped vegetable salad and labneh — a combination that until October 2023 was among the most intriguing trends in the global food scene. Israeli chefs, restaurants and chains opened in London, Paris, Berlin, New York and Antwerp. Everyone wanted a taste of the Mediterranean sun: tahini, za’atar, sabich, shakshuka, warm pita, finely chopped vegetables.
Then the war in Gaza broke out, and with it the collapse of Israel’s culinary branding abroad. Israeli cuisine, once a symbol of cultural fusion and shared flavors, became a political issue in the eyes of parts of the world. What was on the plate no longer mattered — the identity behind the food overshadowed the taste. Israeli restaurants across Europe and the United States found themselves at the center of a struggle that included boycotts, negative reviews, protests and threats.
Just last week, another Israeli restaurant in Europe closed due to anti-Israeli hostility: Tantura, which had operated for a decade in Lisbon, Portugal, shut its doors after sustained harassment linked to its Israeli identity. In that case as well, the owners said the targeting made it impossible to continue operating.