Like many Israelis in the aftermath of October 7, Tamir Barelko felt compelled to do something for the people whose homes and communities were ravaged by the Hamas attacks. Drawing on his nearly 30 years of experience in the food industry, Barelko and several activists came up with Cafe Otef — a series of coffee shops to be run by members of each of the seven hardest-hit communities from Otef Aza, the Gaza envelope region that suffered the worst losses during the October 7 attacks. The idea was that the cafes would provide a space where displaced community members could work, socialise and generally gain a sense of belonging after the trauma they experienced.
Cafe Otef, would also provide employment and act as a place of hope for displaced community members from the Gaza envelope. There are already two locations in Tel Aviv and according to co-founder Barelko, this is just the beginning of Cafe Otef’s mission to unite the people of Israel. “We thought when we started we would just bring in some donations for this project, give these community members the ability to open, and this was the main reason for the business,” said Barelko, a restaurateur and former CEO of the Arcaffe coffee chain.
“Right now, we understand that it’s more powerful than we thought because it gives them meaning in life, it gives them hope." The Cafe Otef in Re'im features a shop with products from small businesses in southern Israel. “I wanted to open a real business that was going to be t.