When café owner Yaki Brosh taped a sign to the door of his café on Monday morning explaining that his Kfar Saba business would be closed as he would be attending the protest in Jerusalem, he didn't expect his decision to become national news.
However, after returning to his business, Café Israela, on Tuesday morning, Brosh and his wife were surprised to see a note emblazoned with the symbol of the outlawed Kach party, founded by the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, waiting for them outside of the café.
Above the yellow and black emblem was a one-line message: "We don't buy from those who protest against the government in Jerusalem."
Speaking to KAN News on Tuesday afternoon, Brosh described the event, saying that the Kahanist symbol felt as if "they were boycotting [the café]."
"I got chills," he continued. "I'm not an easy person to scare. What have we come to?"
מבקש מכל מי שיכול שילך לקנות היום או מחר בקפה ישראלה בכפר סבא, טשרניחובסקי 16.הם קמו הבוקר למודעה הזאת של כהניסטים בכניסה לעסק שלהם המבקשת מהציבור להחרים את העסק הזה כי רחמנא לצלן הם השתתפו בהפגנה אתמול בעד הדמוקרטיה.לכו לקנות שם ותפיצו לחברים pic.twitter.com/SIgEsfIWL2
— yayafink (יאיא פינק) (@yayafink) February 21, 2023
However, despite the perpetrator's attempt to harm Brosh's business, the café owner told N12 on Tuesday evening that business is booming, more so than usual.
"Since the publication of the post about the threat we received, the business has been flooded with buyers from all over the country, a never-ending stream of customers who've come to support us and buy from us."
Anti-government protesters show support
Former Labor MK Yaya Fink, who narrowly missed out on entering the current Knesset after placing sixth on the Labor list, shared an image of the poster on his social media channels and requested that people support the small café by visiting them and purchasing something.
"A big thank you to the hundreds who have already gone to purchase something since this morning," he wrote in a follow-up post several hours later. "A little bit of light repels a lot of darkness."
The outpouring of support that café Israela has received from the public can also be seen in the reviews on the café's Facebook page.
"I stopped by café Israela to treat myself to a delicious pastry and to support the lovely owners of the café," one such supporter wrote. "I was happy to see the place full of people and to hear them say that the place has been packed since this morning."
Another person who had stopped by the café to show support for the small business wrote on the business's Facebook page that when she had stopped by, they were completely out of food due to the number of customers that had stopped by earlier in the day.
"I leave with some hope from this small and pointed incident," she wrote. "Darkness cannot last forever."