While IDF troops operate in staging areas, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and other sectors, someone is making sure they receive a small taste of home – a box of hot pizza. But behind every pie is a larger story, connecting Jews and friends of Israel around the world with IDF soldiers and Israeli businesses affected by the war.
Pizza IDF was founded by Menachem Kuchar in 2002, during Operation Defensive Shield, Israel's counterterrorism operation in the West Bank. At a time when the internet was still in its infancy, and people were hesitant to share their credit card details online, a small command center was established in the Kuchar family home. It collected donations from Jews around the world and used the funds to send pizzas to IDF soldiers.
About a decade ago, management of the organization passed to Kuchar's son, Elisha Kuchar, 43, who serves as Pizza IDF's CEO and is currently serving in the reserves. Together with his wife, Tanya, and a team of volunteers, he runs the organization's year-round activities on an entirely voluntary basis.
Since the outbreak of the Iron Swords War on October 7, 2023, the organization has distributed nearly 200,000 pizza boxes to IDF troops. Since its establishment, it has delivered hundreds of thousands of boxes to soldiers across the country.
Yet Pizza IDF is about far more than delivering pizza. Its model is simple: donors in Israel and abroad fund pizzas for IDF troops, and the orders are placed with Israeli businesses, many of them located in areas affected by the war. In this way, every donation supports both the front line and the home front.
"We always say that every slice of pizza is much more than food," Kuchar said. "It gives soldiers a feeling that someone is thinking about them, and at the same time helps an Israeli business keep working."
According to Kuchar, many pizzeria owners in the south, near the Gaza border, in the north, and in other conflict-affected areas were forced to close at the beginning of the war because business had dried up completely.
"I have messages from pizzeria owners who wrote that they had no way to open their business," he recounted. "Then one of our project managers calls them and says, 'Open up tomorrow, you have an order for 200 pies.' In a single moment, we both put a business back to work and send encouragement to troops on the front line. That is one of the most beautiful aspects of our work."
Alongside his leadership of the organization, Kuchar also serves in the reserves. He has completed more than 500 days of reserve duty since the war began, while continuing to carry out all his work for Pizza IDF as a volunteer.
After more than two decades of activity, the numbers tell only part of the story. Behind the hundreds of thousands of pizza boxes are thousands of Jews and friends of Israel from around the world, hundreds of Israeli business owners, and tens of thousands of soldiers who received a brief taste of home – and a reminder that they are not alone.
