From whiskey to wine: Residents of the Gaza border are building an 'Alcohol empire'

 

Quietly and without fanfare, alcohol production has become a real trend for the Gaza border towns, from whiskey to wine.

By ALON PEARL/GLOBES/TNS FEBRUARY 3, 2025 22:26

NEWLY PLANTED young blue agave plants taking root in the Negev. (photo credit: Avi Leitner)

The last time I was dispatched by Globes to the Gaza border area, the so-called "envelope," on October 4, 2023, the world was somewhat different. Three days before the massacre, we traveled to Kibbutz Sufa to interview then-Eshkol Regional Council Mayor Gadi Yarkoni and report on a huge solar panel project that was due to be constructed on the border when there still was one. We discussed the past, the present, and especially the region's bright future. For a moment, I even felt a twinge of envy of the quiet, pastoral atmosphere.

The other week, I returned, this time to Kibbutz Alumim. The quiet, surprisingly, is the same quiet, but we had a much more sober appreciation of it this time around. This time, the world looks completely different. In a rather surreal way, it was precisely within this sober disillusion that the talk turned to the topic of alcohol. Five years ago, Avi Leitner arrived in the region with a very unusual vision: to plant blue agave in Israel, for the first time, and produce Gaza envelope tequila. "It seemed as though the Negev climate would be the most suitable," he explains. "Agave needs a lot of sun, dry soil, and limited rain. The north was too cold and it was too expensive in other places. We brought experts from Mexico, they traveled the country with us and said the Negev, near the border with Gaza, would be the most suitable place."

In later conversations with area residents, we realized that while Leitner is unique in both his choice of spirit and his vision, alcohol production has become a real trend for the region, from whiskey to wine. Quietly and without fanfare, the same place that underwent a horrific massacre only a year and four months ago is becoming a real alcoholic beverage empire.

AVI LEITNER is the kid with a crazy dream. (credit: Avi Leitner)

"The Agriculture Ministry set obstacles"

For Leitner, an Israeli-American who now lives in Hashmonaim, the story began sometime in 2012. While on a business trip to Mexico City, he attended a reception at the home of a "very important" Jewish family, and was offered tequila. "I asked if they meant that crap we used to drink in high school, which was really cheap and made everyone sick," he recalls. "But then they brought out their tequila, and it was a life-changing experience. I discovered that tequila can be just as interesting and complex as whiskey or gin.

"When I got back to Israel, I started researching it and discovered that the blue agave plant is the drink's main ingredient. Later, I traveled to the tequila region in Mexico, visited distilleries, and started talking to the farmers there. It occurred to me that blue agave could be a new crop in the Negev. Along the way, I also learned that tequila was becoming more and more popular. Today, it's the best-selling alcoholic beverage in the world."

Although it was clear to him that he wanted to grow agave in the Negev, it was not easy to find an agricultural settlement that would accept the idea. "I approached many kibbutzim, but they were afraid to gamble on a new crop. They wanted me to provide all kinds of financial guarantees, which made it impossible. Finally, I met with the farmers from Kibbutz Alumim; they liked the idea and were willing to take the risk. With their support, I began importing the agave tissue cultures. The Ministry of Agriculture put a lot of obstacles in my way — they refused to permit me to bring in plants and insisted on plant tissue and cell cultures. But we moved ahead and today there are hundreds of thousands of plants growing in the Negev."

"At first it sounded novel — maybe even crazy," admits Eran Braverman of Kibbutz Alumim, who oversees the project. "But I've been in agriculture for many years and there's always an interest in new things. On the face of it, this is a crop that's appropriate for the Negev, but we had to make sure that we, as a kibbutz, wouldn't be harmed financially. I won't go into details, but there is a certain agreement between us, such that the greater risk is on them."

Ultimately, in 2020, the agave plant tissues were imported to Israel, and were propagated in a greenhouse for a year. In 2021, the plantlets were planted in fields belonging to Kibbutz Alumim (located about 30 kilometers from the kibbutz, between Urim and Tze'elim). So far, about 350 dunams (86.5 acres) have been planted, with an additional 100 dunams expected to be planted this spring. The drink that Leitner wants to create will not be called "Tequila," because that name is owned exclusively by the Mexican government. Leitner is already thinking about the future name (such as "Israeli agave distillate" or "Negev agave distillate"), but the growing process itself is not easy.

"This plant is different from anything we've known before," explains Braverman. "Each plant takes about five years to mature, so it's more like a tree than the annual crops we deal with. On the other hand, unlike a tree, it's a once-only crop. As soon as you cut it down, it's done. Advertisement

"When the crop reaches its end, you remove the leaves and work with the fruit. In Mexico, they literally go from agave to agave, removing the leaves, but manpower costs in Israel make it impossible to even think about manual labor. We're working on innovations that will help."

---

---

"The agave must reach a specific weight and sugar level before it can be harvested," Leitner adds. "Once it reaches the ideal stage, it is uprooted, and the fruit is cooked in an oven to soften it and release the sugars. The agave sugars are then combined with yeast and fermented, producing a liquid that is sent to the distillery for distillation. The resulting alcohol is then transferred to wooden barrels, where it ages for anywhere from a few months to several years."

When will we get to taste the drink? What does it look like right now?

Braverman: "I estimate within a year, but it's hard to say exactly at the moment. For the time being, it looks just fine, and we've also brought in people from abroad to confirm it. We're also monitoring the sugar levels in the fruit — and they're going in the right direction. But until we do an extraction, we won't know exactly."

Leitner: "We hope to build the distillery this summer and produce the first drinks to be ready for marketing by winter. We're already doing some experiments with the agave to test the taste and quality. We hope that the unique soil of the Land of Israel, the minerals, sun, rain, and air will come together to produce an agave-based liquor that will be better than what's produced in Mexico."

"This is a commercial enterprise, not a hobby"

This project, naturally, required considerable investment from Leitner. "Hundreds of thousands of dollars were invested by a small group of international investors, and we believe that we'll soon reach a stage where we can raise capital," he explains. "We want to raise a few million initially, and as the company grows, we'll raise more. It should be said, this is a commercial enterprise, not a mere hobby. Our business plan assumes that we will have a return on the investment within a few years. As with any other startup, there's a great deal of risk and uncertainty in a new industry that doesn't yet exist in Israel."

Leitner talks about the business plan, but I wonder how many Israelis actually drink tequila and whether the project has any potential. He is confident that it does. "Tequila is currently the most popular alcoholic beverage in the world and demand is growing rapidly. According to studies, this trend is going to continue. We believe that just as other places in the world discovered tequila, and made it their favorite drink, Israel will also begin to discover the wonders of this drink."

Leitner does have some backing. "Tequila's star is rising these days, including in Israel," explains Smadar Dori Maoz, a marketer specializing in alcoholic beverages and owner of consultancy "Gam v'Gam." "Obviously, whiskey, vodka and arak still take first place with Israelis, but when you look at recent sales rates, you can see the trend. In the annual IWSR "Bevtrac" report, which examines alcohol trends, you can see that between 2018 and 2023, tequila sales in Israel increased by 13.2%. By comparison, whiskey grew by 5.5% and vodka fell by 0.9%.

"Moreover, the forecast is that by 2028 tequila will grow by another 5.6%, compared with growth of only 0.6% for whiskey. You can see it in the field as well; in the past, nobody drank gin, and it only went mainstream after 'cool' people started drinking it. These days, all the cool people drink tequila."

"We believe this is the best alcoholic drink, and it will catch on big time in Israel. We intend to produce a world-class agave drink that can compete with other tequilas imported from Mexico, and hope to export to the United States, Europe and Asia," says Leitner.

"We were afraid terrorists were hiding in the orchards"

These conversations are businesslike and relaxed — these guys know exactly what they are doing, and what they intend to do. The tour we take through the fields, the sight of the blue-green agave merging with the blue of the sky, serve to create an atmosphere that feels calm and safe. But later, we travel to Kibbutz Alumim itself, hear from the members about the horrors of October 7 — and we remember exactly where we are.

"Like the rest of the country and the global Jewish community, we were completely shocked by what happened," says Leitner. "Our first concern was, of course, for the innocent victims and the soldiers who were injured and killed in the attack. The kibbutz was involved in the attack and we feared for our colleagues and the workers. Many of the Thai and Nepalese workers were killed by Hamas, and two of them were abducted to Gaza."

I assume that at some point you also worried about your business. Years of work were in real danger.

"Yes, there was very little available information about what was happening there. It wasn't until a week later that the farmers were able to return to the area; they told us that nothing had been damaged. We were thankful to know the project could continue. It's funny, but for months we kept hearing reports of rockets landing in open fields, and couldn't help but wonder if they were our fields.

"We were only able to visit the fields ourselves after a few weeks. The first visit was frightening, because we had to drive all the way to the fields and we were afraid terrorists were still hiding in the orchards and bushes. It was all military vehicles and empty fields."

And how is life on the kibbutz today?

"Completely normal," says Braverman. "There's some noise from the army nearby, but almost all the families have returned. Life hasn't stopped. Since the war, I've been growing beets and other crops right near the border. We may be dealing with alcohol here, but we drown our sorrows in our work."

"A bottle of October 7 whiskey"

The blue agave project began well before October 7 and will continue, but new projects have also emerged in the area-some of which would probably not have happened if not for the war. One involves sowing barley at Kibbutz Be'eri, a project born out of a cooperation between the kibbutz and Israeli whiskey producer Milk & Honey Distillery (M&H).

"In December 2023, I first met Milk & Honey's head distiller Tomer Goren, and VP Global Sales and Marketing Tal Chotiner," says Kibbutz Be'eri member and former MK Haim Yellin. "It started with us meeting at the Amiram Pub in Tel Aviv, and later we were also given a tour of the distillery. The goal was to meet people, clear our heads a bit, and think about how to rehabilitate the pubs at Be'eri.

"It was a time when we were still in a total shock. I was being interviewed all the time, I was shuttling between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and every now and then I would come to Be'eri to try to restore my house. But while I was traveling and holding meetings with them, I had an idea: we have the Be'eri Single mountain bike track, and M&H have a single malt, so why don't we collaborate, grow barley in Be'eri and make whiskey? In my vision, I wanted every Jew in the world to have a bottle of October 7, made from Be'eri barley."

This vision may sound plausible today, but at the time, the fighting in Gaza was still at its peak. How serious was the situation? The planning and kick-off meetings between Milk & Honey and Be'eri agriculture manager Avida Bachar, were held in an underground bomb shelter. Eventually, one hundred tons of barley, in two varieties, were sown in the kibbutz fields. "In a few months we're going to harvest the barley," explains Yellin. "From there, the grains must be sent for malting in Europe, probably Germany, then returned to Israel as raw material suitable for whiskey production. In Israel, it will have to stay in the barrel for another three years."

So, we won't see the whiskey before 2028?

"True, but already this year, when it comes back from Europe, we'll know if it is good and, if so, then next year we'll produce a lot more barley, and try to convince all the companies that make beer and alcohol to do that with our barley. By the way, we'll need the entire Gaza envelope region for this, and then we'll name it 'Otef Whiskey'. Ultimately, the goal is to establish a distillery in the Gaza envelope as well. That way, we'll be able to do everything here. We'll establish a new industry that hasn't existed in the State of Israel until now. Until then, there's a chance we may release a small, limited line called Single Be'eri, with barley from abroad and barrels from Israel."

"It took me two years to persuade the kibbutz"

Aside from whiskey and tequila, throughout the Gaza envelope one can, of course, also find good old wine at severalwineries, such as at Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha and Kibbutz Nir Oz. Even in this sector, there are those who wish to transform the Gaza envelope — specifically Kibbutz Be'eri — into an empire. In 2015, kibbutz member Tom Carbone flew to Italy to study oenology. "My father was born and raised in Italy, and I had a dream of bringing the wine industry, and everything I was raised with, to Be'eri. When I returned to Israel, it was around the time of the Covid-19 pandemic -which was very serious on the kibbutz-and it took me two years to persuade the kibbutz and raise a budget for a pilot of the first thousand bottles. So, I started selling wine and marketing interesting vintages, to show the kibbutz that it was possible to make money from it."

You really had to convince them.

"Yes, you have to come up with the idea and a business plan, just like any entrepreneur coming before an investor. This is a big investment for Be'eri — a winery and a vineyard, too — and they didn't want to rush it. It took a while for them to realize I was serious and wasn't going to give up. They threw me out the door and I came back through the window. If Be'eri weren't a cooperative system kibbutz, I would have taken a personal loan and advanced it myself.

"I did the first pilot with grapes from Nes Harim and we made the wine at Givat Yeshayahu; a 2023 vintage, which was bottled and marketed in 2024. It was very successful and 1,000 were sold in two days, so we've now gone up to 4,000 bottles. Tal Chotiner and Tomer Goren from Milk & Honey also helped me locate grapes this year. We're also working towards our goal of setting up a winery and planting vineyards at Be'eri. I am sure we can do something high level that's unique to us. I'm interested in making something serious and large-scale, and not staying boutique. I should also mention that Be'eri has plans to create a tourist center that includes a dairy, biking center, and more. So, it won't be a standalone."

One person who had shared Tom's journey was Dror Or, who was murdered on October 7, and whose body is still being held in Gaza. "This whole project is something we were both passionate about. Dror very much believed in my vision, and really helped me with the kibbutz. I had just come back from Italy, and he would come with me to meetings, and really helped me. The wine that will be released now will be in his memory and in memory of his wife Yonat."

How do you move on after October 7?

"On October 7, my mother was murdered on the kibbutz. My father survived by some miracle. I, my wife, and our child, were trapped in our home until 2:00 am. For me, engaging in wine is an escape. It's not about moving on, it's about using it as an escape.

"But actually, what happened totally strengthened me in my investment in the kibbutz. I can't go anywhere else — can't even think about it. Ultimately, we are in an endless war with our neighbors. I am a farmer, and that, for me, is the purpose: rifle in one hand, hoe in the other."

Where do you see this project a decade from now?

"I see a very successful winery that exports wines to major Jewish communities around the world. I see a product that is unique to us, wine from Be'eri, that will become a household name in Israel and the world."