On Passover, a holiday usually associated with plenty, family, and freedom, Israel is confronting a far harsher reality. In this vivid interview, Felice Friedson speaks with Joseph Gitler, founder and chairman of Leket Israel, about a wartime food crisis that is hitting the poor, the middle class, and the workers struggling to keep the country running. The result is a portrait of a society under pressure, where supply chains now depend on people willing to do ordinary jobs in extraordinary danger.
Gitler describes blue-collar workers as a civilian backbone of the war effort. Delivery drivers, sanitation workers, and food suppliers are still on the roads and in the streets even as missiles threaten daily life. Gitler recounts having to pull over and dive into a ditch on a northern highway during a Hezbollah siren. Yet, as he puts it, milk still has to be delivered, streets still have to be cleaned, and people still have to get to work. The war has also touched him personally: His son-in-law, Sgt. Maj. David Schwartz, was killed in battle in Khan Yunis in January 2024.
The interview shows how Leket Israel has had to adapt quickly to a new class of needy families, what Gitler calls the “temporary poor.” These are not only the chronically vulnerable but also middle-class Israelis in tourism, hospitality, and small business who have been hit hard by reserve duty, disruption, and lost income. With nonprofit partners in the north operating under severe strain, Leket has begun directly buying crops and thousands of prepared meals to bridge the gap.
Costs are climbing just as the need grows. Fields near Gaza and in the north have become too dangerous to work, fertilizer and shipping are more expensive, and Gitler warns that food waste remains a scandal even now. Leket expects at least $900 million worth of food to be wasted over Passover alone.
What gives the piece its punch is not only the data but Gitler’s blunt honesty and Friedson’s framing of a country feeding itself under fire. This is a story about war, hunger, dignity, and resilience. Readers should read the article and watch the full interview, because Felice Friedson brings out the human and national stakes with unusual clarity.