Bay Area volunteer among thousands rushing to Israel to help harvest crops amid war
OAKLAND – Israel's war with Hamas has left the country's agriculture industry in crisis. Now, volunteers from the Bay Area and around the world have stepped up and are heading to a war zone to keep farms running.
Picking spicy peppers at a farm in Israel, as rockets were flying over his head, was never on Max Giella's bucket list.
"I don't have particularity strong ties to Israel," he said from Tel Aviv. "I don't have family here. I don't have friends here. But the first trip [to Israel] I went on in 2007 left an indelible mark."
In the midst of the Israel-Hamas war, Giella, a Jewish man from Oakland with zero agricultural experience, joined an army of volunteers who dropped everything to help Israeli farmers battling an acute labor shortage.
"We were pretty uncertain as to what the situation would be. But I think we all just felt helpless, and this was an opportunity to contribute in a really constructive way," he said.
Israeli farms traditionally rely on thousands of Thai and Palestinian workers to pick their crops. But, as many foreign nationals left Israel, and Palestinians are now barred from entering the country, hundreds of volunteers are rushing to fill the gap.
It didn't take long for Giella to be reminded he was smack dab in the middle of a war zone.
"The first night we get here, there's a siren and it's like out of the movies," he said. "Everyone dropped what they were doing and looked for a local bomb shelter."
Gidi Mark, the international CEO of a non-profit dedicated to bringing young Jews to the Holy Land called Taglit-Birthright Israel, says thousands of volunteers have already signed up to help. Since October 7th, Birthright pivoted from tourism to organizing volunteer harvest trips.
"We come with a group of 20 and we really go over the field and within two days the whole field is done and go to another field," he said.
Farmers say, having volunteers come to Israel at the height of the war has been nothing short of a lifesaver.
"I was in shock and I started to cry," said Dikla Hakikat, a farmer in Central Israel. "It's not obvious to leave their home and families and work and jobs to come especially to volunteer to do good for other people here in Israel."
Giella said he couldn't think of a better way to spend his vacation.
"I wanted to do my part to help, not so much fundraising or demonstrating or writing letters but I wanted to act," he said.