In their own words, investors and founders try to make sense of the war with Hamas, and what could come after.

[By Flora Tsapovsky for WIRED]

Since the Hamas terror attacks of Saturday, October 7, Israel’s tight-knit tech community has rallied to the country’s defense. Some executives have children in the Israeli military or serve themselves; others immediately launched civil aid programs to support the Israel Defense Forces, war refugees or the families of hostages.

While universally agreeing on the need to disarm Hamas in Gaza, tech investors and founders we spoke to are conflicted about the violence sweeping the region. Some voice concern about the rising death toll of Gaza civilians, with nearly 4,000 killed according to reports.

The past two weeks have thrown into question everything these leaders thought they knew about their state, their political beliefs and even their own personal values. As for the leaders of Palestine’s small but growing startup scene (companies in Gaza and the West Bank raised $9.5 million from investors in 2021, according to Fast Company Middle East), they must now reckon with potentially ruinous conditions for their businesses and decimated hopes for their futures.

Note: The Information interviewed several Arab tech leaders for this story, some of whom support the Palestinian cause. Fearing reprisals from the Israeli government, none wished to speak on the record. The interviews below have been edited and condensed for clarity and conciseness.

 “Despite all our abilities, it happened again. This realization physically hurts.”

Gigi Levy-Weiss
Founding partner, NFX

Levy-Weiss, who lives in the central municipality of Rishpon, has been a prominent voice in Israel’s protest movement against the judicial overhaul led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He’s a board member of Meet, a non-profit that offers an entrepreneurship and computer science program for Israeli and Palestinian children, in partnership with MIT.

This is the most funerals I’ve been to in a single week—four to be exact. These were children of my friends. The first one I found out about, Iftah Yavetz, I’ve known since he was a baby. He was a young leader, so bright, that when he was 16 I told him, once you’re ready, you’re hired. [Yavetz was one of at least 260 people slain by terrorists at the Tribe of Nova festival on Oct. 7.]

At his funeral, there was a moment I fell apart. I grew up going to nature parties and still frequent electronic music festivals, and the idea that someone can show up to an event like that, where people celebrate love, and reap them while laughing—it’s just, like 9/11, a battle on liberal values, equality, and the Western way of life.

On Saturday, when everything started unfolding, I spoke to fellow protest organizers and we agreed that for now, the judicial reform movement called “the protest” was over. That same day we started the Emergency Civil HQ; we took all the logistical infrastructure we’ve built for the protest, with its fundraising arm and volunteers, and turned it around to help the country win the war. We connect donations and those who need them in the fastest and most efficient way possible. I’ve founded seven companies in my lifetime, but this is my best startup to date.

I’m still mad at the government, at Netanyahu for fostering Hamas, at spending the past 10 months dealing with so much chaff instead of the seed, which caused so much burnout to the Israeli spirit. There’s a bitter sense of failure, too, around the intelligence oversight. In our perception, the Holocaust was the last instance Jews could be murdered in their homes. And yet, despite all our abilities, it happened again. This realization physically hurts.

I have Palestinian friends and I know Meet alumni, and it’s very difficult for me to think that people are being killed on the other side. But on the other hand, when 9/11 happened, no one asked, for at least a year, how does the other side feel? And 9/11 happened at the hands of a handful of terrorists. Here, we’re talking about more than 1,000 terrorists who entered Israel with the intention to murder. It’s unacceptable to think that everything will be the same after that.

“I believe Gaza can become Singapore if we fully eradicate evil.”

Michael Eisenberg
Partner, Aleph

Eisenberg, a former general partner at Benchmark, now invests in Israeli entrepreneurs at Aleph. Originally from Manhattan, he moved to Israel in 1993 and currently lives in Jerusalem.

I have two kids full-time in the military right now. Two Sabbaths ago, my son said goodbye to his pregnant wife; he loaded up his weapon, put on his army uniform, gave her a hug and walked out the door.

My grandfather, who I was very close with, was called up in World War II to serve in the Navy. He spent three years on a boat in the Pacific Ocean defending America and the world after Pearl Harbor. He didn’t see my grandmother for three years.

Today, an incredibly evil death cult called Hamas has just murdered, raped, pillaged and tortured residents in Israel. And I’m so proud of our kids for not just defending Israel, but defending the free world from these evil people.

Since the war started, I’ve gotten the most incredible outreach of support from the tech community, from our investors. There’s a covenant between the people in the United States and the people of Israel, around our values of freedom, of democracy, of standing up to evil, and of how we value human life and human creativity. I know it’s not a small number of people. More than 1,000 had reached out.

I feel bad for any innocent [Palestinian] civilian who will be killed. But I also expect that they’ll stand up to Hamas so that they can have a better life. If you want to help the Palestinian people, you need to get rid of Hamas. It’s that simple.

There’s definitely going to be some rebuilding of Gaza. I have a hope and prayer that the multinational tech companies—Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft—the tech people in Israel, and the governments in the Gulf, Israel, the United States and Europe will come together and see if we can build something different there. But first, we need to eradicate the evil people. I believe Gaza can become Singapore if we fully eradicate evil.

“It’s not a rational decision to live in Israel. It’s an emotional decision.”

Eynat Guez
CEO and co-founder, Papaya Global

Guez lives in the seaside town of Mikhmoret in the center of Israel. In January 2023, she made global headlines when she announced she’d be pulling her FinTech unicorn’s funds from Israel, following the government’s overhaul of the judicial system.

I’ve been a co-founder and a CEO of a startup for seven years, and during those years I’ve had three kids. I’ve never been away from my email for more than two hours. In the past two weeks, I may be managed two hours of work emails. This event caused a crazy shift, which led to an understanding that I need to take all my abilities and put them towards Israel.

I spend all my days and nights at the Emergency Civil HQ, mainly dealing with air supply of medical equipment and winter gear for soldiers.

It’s been a sobering experience. It’s not a rational decision to live in Israel—it’s not the cheapest country, nor is it the safest. It’s an emotional decision. If I want to keep living here, I can no longer look at things purely from a capitalist standpoint. This is a point of no return.

We must continue to create tech, but also to take responsibility for leaving a real societal mark. You can see the tech abilities have dramatically affected the state of the country right now. Identifying bodies and mapping missing persons happened largely thanks to tech teams. I think that from this crisis, the next best tech startups will grow. We’ll learn how to excel at getting over huge complexities.

I do my best not to watch the news. If I open Facebook or Twitter these days, my feed looks like a list of obituaries rather than a social network. Disconnecting from the news is paramount, because we’re all dealing with trauma. Social activism helps. I’m better in action than in silence and passivity.

While optimism is too big of a word right now, I do feel hope. I hope this event will shake up the political system. Israel should, at the end of the day, run like a tech company. And on a bigger level I hope that, with the support of the U.S., we will be able to create a new reality that’s beyond putting a band aid on a problem, a profound change.

“Everyone has experienced great emotional and national trauma.”

Nir Zohar
President and chief operating officer, Wix

Zohar, a reserve officer for the Israeli navy, lives in Tel Aviv. He is one of the co-founders of the new Arava Tech Center, an initiative that connects the Israeli tech community with the emerging needs of the public during wartime.

There are times that I don’t even know what day it is anymore. My feelings move in the registers of anger and sadness. I’m angry at my country, at the fact that we couldn’t provide our citizens with the protection a country should give them.

We’re very lucky that none of our employees were killed or kidnapped, but in their circles, there are so many sad stories. Everyone has experienced great emotional and national trauma, and on top of that, you have the practical issues; some people’s homes were damaged, some are afraid to stay at home, some got stuck abroad. All the while, it’s extremely important to keep the business up and running. We must channel our strengths to where we can be of use.

Sadly, Wix has had a “drill” with Ukraine, where many of our employees are still refugees or live from power outages to bombings. [Wix employs more than 1,000 workers in Ukraine.] I see them, and I see that work fills them with a sense of stability and safety. Israelis can be just as strong. My points of light are my family and the insane mobilization of Wix employees. They’re awe-inspiring.

I have four children, the oldest is 13, and the youngest is 4. I feel relieved that they’re too small to be in the army. I know it’s an egotistical thought, but it’s your kids and you can’t be but a little selfish. There’s also guilt and anger that there are kids of people who look just like me that are going through something a thousand times worse. It makes me frustrated, sad and ashamed.

I’ve always been on the left side of the political map. I was graduating high school when the Oslo Accords were signed, and I remember myself being emotional and rejoicing that peace is coming. But the reality is, we don’t share the same values. These are two different cultures. These acts of torture, rape and murder—no democratic liberal Western country does this.

There’s something psychotic about arguing about whether babies have been beheaded or “just” murdered. But when Hamas announces Israel has hit a hospital, all the media outlets are echoing it without proper fact-checking, calling Israel barbaric. If we did hit a hospital, I’d join that statement, but it’s just not the case. There’s something deeply embedded, at least in some people, that has nothing to do with legitimate political criticism. I’ve seen statements that Israel has lost its right to exist. What are you actually saying?

Regretfully, I can’t say this will be the last war. A major shift needs to happen in order to promote a change, and I don’t know what it would be. I think nobody knows.

“I hope that the tragedy on both sides will lead to a two-state solution.”

Ronni Zehavi
Co-founder and CEO, HiBob

Zehavi’s Tel Aviv-based HR platform recently closed a funding round of $150 million led by Farallon Capital Management. He is a board member of Friends of the IDF Disabled Veterans Organization.

I have a daughter and a son in the army. On Saturday, my son was called to Sderot and Be’eri, and my daughter is in a war room in the south.

The first 24 hours were chaotic. Once I drove my children to the pickup spots for their army bases, I gathered all our managers, including the American ones. We talked to each and every one of our 800 employees, making sure they feel safe, physically and mentally. We found out who got drafted, and counted 25 people in our company. Then, we wanted to make sure that our clients and partners don’t feel the effect of what’s happening in our quality of service. And, lastly, we made sure that our company is safe, on a cyber level and also in terms of safety shelters by the office.

We did an hour-long company Zoom in the beginning of the war, and people didn’t want to leave. Everyone was shocked, and wanted to share about people they know who have lost someone. We later did an all-hands with employees from all over the world, and the tears and sentiments of our colleagues overseas really touched me.

It’s easier to volunteer or work rather than be glued to the news all day. HiBob, with other companies, established a support platform within two days, which allows people from our client companies to fulfill volunteering tasks. People are gathering themselves, realizing that they must support others.

I believe that from this abyss, something better will grow, within Israel and also with our Palestinian neighbors. I hope that the tragedy on both sides will lead to a two-state solution so we can live here together. Germany and France had years of bitter hatred and wars, and they had reached peace. We can do it too, but it requires strong, responsible leadership that isn’t led by extremism—on both sides.

My 12-year-old daughter, who’s watching the war on TikTok, asked why don’t we just board a plane and get out of there. And the answer was if everyone thinks that, who will remain? Israel is a miracle and to be Israeli is incredible. One can enjoy the innovation and the beauty of the country, but to also understand that life here is complex. I hope we raise her just like her brother and sister—to be sturdy and strong, and to understand there’s no other place for us.

Flora Tsapovsky is a San Francisco-based culture, tech, and food writer. Her work has appeared in Wired, Elle, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Bon Appetit. Find her on Instagram at @bicoastalista and floratsapovsky.com.