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An Israeli entrepreneur is behind two ventures. One is an international sensation - a restaurant group with a Michelin star. The other is an international controversy - a food program in Gaza, mired in deadly violence. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHOPPING)
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: We are inside the beating heart of Israel's culinary scene. This is Miznon. It's a street food restaurant - very Mediterranean. This guy is smashing a mashed potato with creme fraiche. When you look at the menu here, it says, this restaurant is powered by Eyal Shani, the celebrity chef, and his business partner, Shahar Segal.
HILA ALPERT: He took the sparks and made it fire - big fire.
ESTRIN: Israeli food writer Hila Alpert says Shahar Segal, a TV ad director, helped the celebrity chef create a global culinary phenomenon. One of his restaurants in Manhattan has a Michelin star.
ALPERT: He's very good at recognizing things, take it and make something out of it.
ESTRIN: When Hamas attacked Israel in 2023 and Israel began its offensive in Gaza, Segal lent his branding expertise to the army, he told an Israeli podcast last year.
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SHAHAR SEGAL: (Speaking Hebrew).
ESTRIN: "I found myself in the army dealing with influence operations - narrative building," he says. "Fighting the narrative war against Hamas."
A few weeks ago, he emerged as spokesman of a new food venture backed by the U.S. and conceived in Israel. It's called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF. The idea is to provide civilians with food under Israeli military supervision without Hamas involvement. The result has been deadly. You're about to hear the sound of gunfire.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
(SOUNDBITE OF GUNFIRE)
ESTRIN: This video shows masses of Palestinians crouching amid rubble and fleeing in an open field. A young man filming says, here's what's happening to us, just for flour.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Arabic).
ESTRIN: There's extreme hunger in Gaza, with Israel severely limiting food, and Gaza health officials say more than 220 people have been killed and 1,800 wounded while seeking food in recent weeks. The Israeli military says it's fired warning shots at people approaching troops near the food sites. GHF says it has no connection to this violence and says Hamas has killed and threatened Palestinians working for GHF. The United Nations and other aid groups have refused to work with GHF, saying it doesn't follow humanitarian principles. Palestinian American Hani Almadhoun, of the Gaza Soup Kitchen, opposes GHF.
HANI ALMADHOUN: We understand this is such a heartless enterprise. It is not the way to do humanitarian aid. And, you know, this is the situation where Palestinians end up being dead every time there is a food distribution.
ESTRIN: A person familiar with GHF's activities says the Israeli government asked Shahar Segal, the Israeli restaurant owner, to join the group to project the image that the initiative has nutritional value for Gazans. The person requested we not name them because they're not authorized to speak with the media. Segal denies that. He told NPR there's no connection between his restaurant background and his involvement with GHF. In response to the violence near the food sites and criticism around the group, he wrote, I believe this is the only correct and possible way to give food to Gazans without bankrolling Hamas' terror machine. His partner, chef Eyal Shani, did not respond to NPR's request for comment. Alpert, the Israeli food writer, was surprised to hear Segal is representing the group.
ALPERT: I think that if Shahar does it, it's only because he has his heart on the right place. If someone brings food to Gaza, it's better than nothing, no? I don't know.
ESTRIN: Video filmed by Palestinians show thousands crowding food sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: No, this way. This way. This way. No.
ESTRIN: They run in droves to grab flour, pasta, cooking oil - whatever they can. GHF and the Israeli government have released different footage of smiling Palestinians with their food boxes in this Israeli government ad.
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UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: This is what real aid looks like. Smiles don't lie. Hamas does.
ESTRIN: Segal sends daily updates about the Gaza food project from his base in New York, where his restaurant group is expanding to a new luxury condo development in Brooklyn.
Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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