Since 1975, I've woken up at 5 a.m. every day. To an outsider, I might seem eccentric, even obsessive. But how can one explain the profound love for the land and for agriculture, when, despite all the hurdles, it runs in your veins? I am Yossi Dabash, a farmer from Moshav Hatzav. I've been working the land for nearly 50 years, and there is nothing that fills my heart more than seeing crops thrive and feeling the soil between my fingers.
But that love may soon disappear. On the farm I built with my own hands, where I have grown a wide range of produce, there will be no one to carry on after me. Today's youth, including my own four accomplished children, are drawn to other fields: high-tech, medicine, engineering, anywhere that doesn't involve the whims of the weather or a lack of support. The fault lies not with the younger generation, but with decades of neglect by successive governments that have all but abandoned Israeli agriculture.
Over the past year, young people have been driven even further away. They've watched their parents, the farmers, fight a daily battle for survival. At 71, I've just experienced the hardest year since I began farming. Water tariffs have skyrocketed. Foreign workers have vanished. Friends of mine in the north and south had to tend their fields under rocket fire, far from families evacuated from combat zones. Revenue has been cut in half. Even in my own central-region moshav, we felt the full impact of the war.
Yet I remain optimistic. In some ways, this may be the perfect moment to rebuild Israeli agriculture, driven by struggle, but also by hope, just as our parents did when they came to this land and believed that farming would be the engine powering the young state. The war revealed the strength and character of our youth, fighters, patriots who halted their lives for the good of Israel, and in some cases, never returned. But this generation cannot complete this vital mission, working the land to ensure Israel's physical and nutritional security, without legitimacy and government support.
Just as Israel has invested in developing other sectors, such as high-tech, the country must launch a comprehensive plan to incentivize and encourage young people to become farmers. Israel must be self-reliant in food production. We cannot afford to depend on other countries. Concrete steps must be taken now.
Every morning, as I walk to my fields, I dream of seeing a new generation of young farmers at work. This is not just about my future or that of my farm. This is about the future of us all. A strong agriculture means a secure Israel.
The writer is a farmer and works with Leket Israel.
