‘We’re Here to Stay’: Israeli Restaurateur Opens Burger Joint Near Lebanon Border Amid Escalating Attacks

Kiryat Shmona, Israel — In a town that regularly shelters from incoming rockets and drones, restaurateur Yehezkel Schweiger has opened Kvishtish, a diner-style burger joint just a short distance from the Lebanese border. Despite the daily threat of cross-border attacks, Schweiger says the move is both practical and symbolic: 'It's very patriotic,' he told CBS News as he showed visitors around the new eatery.

A Local Refuge In Tense Times

The restaurant — a spin-off of Schweiger's popular Kvish 90 further south — features a bar, neon signs and a battered car families can climb into for photos. It was lively when reporters visited between lunch and dinner and fills up most on Saturday nights after Shabbat. Schweiger says he wanted to give the community 'another good place to come and hang out, relax from all of the things that's going around here.'

Earlier the same afternoon, staff and visitors had to shelter in a nearby bomb shelter after Israeli air defenses detected an incoming threat. Residents in Kiryat Shmona and other northern towns often have only seconds, not minutes, to reach cover when air-raid sirens sound.

Staff and customers are seen in the Kvishtish restaurant in the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona, near the border with Lebanon, June 8, 2026. / Credit: CBS News

Life Close To The Front

Schweiger is father to two young boys and is expecting a baby girl. He acknowledged the strain of sending his 7-year-old to school amid the dangers, but described the decision to stay and build as rooted in gratitude and attachment to the land: 'I get up every morning... and say thank you. Thank you that I can have the rivers next to me and all of the eucalyptus trees here. I'm not a person of the city.'

'This is our home, and we don't want to leave it,' Schweiger said. 'We're here to stay.'

Construction on the new venue proceeded even as the region saw repeated strikes and counterstrikes. The visit coincided with reports that Israeli forces had struck southern suburbs of Beirut — actions Iran called a red line — and later accounts of Iranian missiles reportedly launched toward Israel. Television and reporters described a tense, fast-moving security picture across the border and beyond.

Keeping Spirits Up

Schweiger emphasized the role of staff in creating an upbeat atmosphere despite the wartime backdrop: 'We try to take people that are very happy and come to work, and since they are happy they go to the customers very happy, and it's a chain, a circle that goes around.' One regular summed up the local feeling when asked whether she was worried: 'I live here.'

For Schweiger and many customers, opening Kvishtish is both a business decision and an expression of resilience — a public statement that life and community continue even under fire.