Northern Israel is a magical place in September; lush grapevines are bursting with fruit as the intense summer heat fades to the gentler temperatures that precede the winter snow and rain.
But the terrorist war against Israel that began on October 7, 2023 – a Shabbat Simchat Torah – has changed the landscape and is now threatening the lives and livelihoods of those who have remained in the north against all the odds.
Uri Tyroler, the CEO of Kamisa Winery in the Dalton industrial Park and his boss and fellow northerner, winery owner and winemaker Yehuda Kamisa, are two men of the land who are among those with no plans to leave.
Tyroler spoke with JewishPress.com in an exclusive interview about the challenges facing the winery and other businesses fighting for their survival in a wartime environment.
First, a little background: Kamisa Winery does not own its own vineyards; they buy the grapes used to make their high-quality, kosher-certified wines from farmers with whom they have decades-long contracts.
“Our winemaker and the agronomists pay frequent visits to the vineyards and advise them and guide them on how we want them to grow the wine,” Tyroler explains.
Therein lies part of the challenge: although some of the vineyards are in the vicinity of the winery, others are further north, closer to the border. “Some of them were hit by missiles, which is not that bad,” Tyroler says. “The most severe problem is when there is a fire – not even in the vineyard itself, but next to the vineyard. The grapes absorb a smoky scent. We definitely can’t make wine out of those grapes – unless you want to make wine with the odor of fire.”
At least 190 million square meters of land in northern Israel (46,950 acres, or about 73 square miles) has burned to the ground as a result of the wildfires caused by exploding Hezbollah rockets, missiles and suicide drones since October 7, 2023.
The more serious problem is the volume of grapes lost because the vineyards were not pruned at the right time, during the past winter, Tyroler says. “The reason they were not pruned was that it was not safe to get there. It was not safe to work in the vineyards. Unless you shape the grape vine, you’re not going to get many grapes, or you’re going to get very few grapes, and those of a very poor quality. So, this is the major damage in vineyards that were not pruned.”
Up to 20 percent of the Kamisa Winery’s harvest, which generally totals about 700 tons (1.4 million pounds) of grapes, was lost due to Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel, Tyroler says.
The average bottle of wine contains slightly more than one kilogram (2.5 pounds) of grapes, according to industry standards. Each ton of grapes produces about 720 bottles of wine; a harvest of 700 tons of grapes can produce about 504,000 bottles of wine.
Had Tyroler not figured out a Plan B, Hezbollah’s hatred could have cost the business a loss of approximately 100,800 bottles of wine this year.
Fortunately, there was a Plan B: “We didn’t lose that 20 percent, because we compensated with other vineyards,” Tyroler says. “They were not vineyards with which we have a long-term contract, however, so it’s more difficult to ensure the quality.”
The most dramatic damage to the business, it turns out, was the loss of the winery’s entire hospitality section. Kamisa Winery has a high-quality, upscale restaurant in addition to its production of wine. It’s a popular site, but silent now due to the war.
“People from all over were booking the restaurant in advance,” Tyroler explains. “I mean, a family from Brooklyn before even boarding a flight to Israel used to book their reservations at the restaurant. It was full, and people were dining and buying wine. This was about 25 percent of our business, and it went down to zero instantly,” he says.
Tyroler compensated by increasing the sale of the wines – but even so, juggling the finances was far from easy.
“If you ship your wine to the US – which is what we did, we developed the US market – it takes a while until you get paid. That’s compared to a restaurant and incoming clientele that purchased wine, which is an instant income. So, from a point of view of cash flow, we instantly lost six to seven million shekels in cash flow, which is a nightmare.”
Last November, the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) approved a plan to compensate businesses for indirect damage caused to them because of the Iron Swords War. The Plan included a business continuity grant for businesses nationwide, and those in “border settlements” are entitled to full reimbursement for this damage as stipulated in the law.
“Businesses with a turnover between 300,000 NIS up to 400 million NIS per year will be entitled to a business continuity grant that will consist of a reimbursement of inputs (reimbursement of expenses) of between 7 to 22 percent, depending on the damage to the business turnover, except for unique sectors for which a different outline has been defined, as well as a reimbursement of 75 percent of salary expenses in relation to the amount of damage,” according to the Israel Tax Authority.
It sounds good on paper. But apparently it’s another story entirely when it comes down to brass tacks and the wrestling match with the infamous Israeli bureaucracy, as Tyroler told six lawmakers from the Knesset’s Land of Israel Caucus who visited the site earlier this month.
“They have multiple plans and when you try to file the application, then you realize that we’re not entitled because we are five and a half kilometers from the border, and the limit is five,” Tyroler explains.
That half-kilometer difference — less than a third of a mile — means any business in the Dalton Industrial Park is ineligible for compensation, he says.
“The entire industrial park is not a part of all these fantastic plans. The IDF definition of the parameters for evacuation were not based on tactical considerations; in the beginning they were set according to the range of the Hezbollah missiles, and the government adopted that as a determination for compensation,” Tyroler continues.
Dalton was not evacuated, despite being hit numerous times by Hezbollah missiles; in fact as this article was being written, there were Red Alert rocket warning sirens this morning (Monday, September 23) in the Dalton Industrial Park where the winery is located.
“The fact that all the employees are living closer to the border, didn’t matter,” he told JewishPress.com. “The Israeli government was not well organized to handle the situation, putting it in the gentlest words I can use.”
Yehuda Kamisa lives in Moshav Sufa, near the northern border. Uri Tyroler also lives closer to the border, in Kibbutz Snir. Both communities have been hit multiple times by Hezbollah rockets. Tyroler’s own home was hit by a missile this past July.
“We got that fixed,” he smiles. “My neighbor had a missile that landed in his back yard a week ago.” No one was hurt, he adds. “Only damage to the property.”
Nevertheless, his main concern has nothing to do with physical safety. He’s worried about his employees.
“When I was a young kid, before the 67 war, the Syrians were above on the mountain and the kibbutz was below. So here are the Syrians and they were shooting at us on a daily basis,” he says. “We spent so many nights and days in in the shelters, and the shelters were very old, so when a bomb fell next to the shelter, between the links of the shelter some soil would enter. So we’re used to it, okay?
“Yehuda Kamisa, the owner of the winery, has the same personal history like myself. We’re used to it. We understand our part as people of the frontier. We take it, we accept it. This is how we were brought up. We are not complaining. We are proud of to serve as the protectors of the northern border. This is part of who we are.
“We’re not under pressure, we’re not depressed. This is our duty, and we accept it proudly,” he says.
The ultimate kibbutznik, Tyroler served in his younger years as an IDF Navy Seal. He says he loved it, and “if they would accept me I would go and do it again.” That’s not happening at age 63, and he knows it. But he is proud that his 34-year-old son now serves as a reservist in the same unit.
“It’s not my personal well-being – it’s how many families this winery supports, and if the government does not wake up soon, many dozens of families could lose their livelihood,” he emphasizes.
“That’s the source of the sorrow, the stress. It’s not that I am protecting the border with my body. I am protecting the border by enabling other people to live here, to make a livelihood and in this, the government doesn’t help.
“I just want to make it clear – it’s not our personal security that we’re concerned about, right? It’s the fact that we would not be able to continue with our mission to supply income and livelihoods to people in the north.
“This is a cry for the government to help us with this mission.”
