With elections approaching, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a break from campaigning this week for kebabs.
Netanyahu visited Shishlik Olga, a veteran grill restaurant in Hadera’s Givat Olga neighborhood, considered a Likud stronghold, accompanied by a large entourage that included the city’s mayor and party activists. “When he walked in, it was like lifting the World Cup,” restaurant owner Simo Shtivi told ynet.
Netanyahu at Shishlik Olga
It was not Netanyahu’s first visit. “I invest so much in this place, and it’s very exciting,” Shtivi said. “[Yitzhak] Rabin was here once, [Ariel] Sharon came seven times, and with Bibi this is already the fifth time,” he added, naming some of the prime minister's predecessors and using his nickname.
Security officials had contacted him in advance to say an important person would be arriving, but did not identify the guest. “They said an important person was coming, but they didn’t tell me who,” he said. “I saw that the security preparations were unusual, so I understood it was probably Bibi.”
Two trucks and dozens of security personnel arrived, with guards positioned around the restaurant and on the roof, Shtivi said. “They also shut down our internet and phones, so people paid in cash,” he said. “Anyone who didn’t have cash, we told them to come back later and pay.”
The security measures extended all the way into the kitchen. Tables near Netanyahu’s seating area were cleared, and only about 30 diners were allowed inside after undergoing special security checks at the entrance and receiving pink wristbands.
“The security guards locked my freezer with a padlock, and several guards stood next to me while I prepared his food,” Shtivi said.
What did Netanyahu eat?
“Because it’s not his first time here, I already know what he likes,” Shtivi said. “I prepared him a platter with entrecôte steak, baby lamb chops, foie gras, sweetbreads and filet.”
The diners were enthusiastic about the unexpected visit. “People saw Bibi and got excited. Everyone wanted pictures with him,” Shtivi said. “He moved a chair next to him and let anyone who wanted come speak with him.”
(Photo: Courtesy)
Among the guests were parents of soldiers who spoke with the prime minister. “He also spent time with my 8-year-old grandson,” Shtivi said. “My grandson dressed up as Bibi for Purim, and he sat next to him and told him about it,” he added, referring to the Jewish holiday when children traditionally wear costumes.
From butcher shop to neighborhood institution
Shishlik Olga sits at the edge of a commercial center. The restaurant began operating about 40 years ago at another nearby location before moving to its current site roughly four years later.
The family’s connection to the meat business goes back much further. The Shtivi family immigrated from Tripoli, Libya, in 1949. In the 1960s, family patriarch Zion Shtivi entered the meat trade and opened a butcher shop in the neighborhood, which remains in operation today under the ownership of one of his sons.
In the 1980s, two other brothers, Dubi and Simo, opened Shishlik Olga, giving rise to the restaurant’s longtime nickname, “Simo and Dubi.” Its specialty was, and remains, charcoal-grilled meat.
The restaurant gave prominence to cuts and organs that were less common on Israeli menus at the time, including heart, sweetbreads, spleen and other specialty meats. Over the years, it became a destination for meat lovers and diners seeking less conventional cuts.
Today, Shishlik Olga is among the relatively few old-style Israeli grill restaurants that have retained a simple, nostalgic atmosphere, complete with photographs of celebrities and politicians who have eaten there and newspaper clippings about the restaurant collected over the years.
“I respect everyone who comes here,” Shtivi said. “Bibi, soldiers and people who have nothing. Either way, it was exciting for everyone.”