Israeli Restaurateur Opens Border Burger Spot in Kiryat Shmona Amid Daily Hezbollah Attacks and War with Iran

Yehezkel Schweiger opened a new burger restaurant called Kvishtish in Kiryat Shmona, Israel, on June 8, 2026. The site sits near the Lebanon border and operates as a spinoff of his larger restaurant, Kvish 90, located further south. CBS News visited Kvishtish that day and interviewed Schweiger inside the restaurant.

The new location includes a bar, a beat-up car for children to play in and pose for photos, and colorful neon signs. It was busiest on Saturday nights right after the end of Shabbat. Earlier that afternoon, CBS News reporters took cover in a bomb shelter at a heavily defended Israeli military outpost near Kiryat Shmona after Israeli air defenses detected an incoming threat.

U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran. Schweiger said construction of Kvishtish took place under fire.

While the CBS News crew was at the restaurant, Israeli forces bombed the southern suburbs of Beirut. Iran described the strikes as crossing a red line. Within hours, two dozen Iranian ballistic missiles were launched toward Israel.

Schweiger has two young sons and a baby girl on the way. He said it is difficult sending his 7-year-old to school given the risks, but he does not plan to leave. "This is our home, and we don't want to leave it," he said.

He added that each morning he looks at the rivers and eucalyptus trees and feels gratitude for the view. "I'm not a person of the city," he said. Schweiger described the restaurant's atmosphere as different from typical wartime conditions.

One customer asked whether the staff was worried about operating so close to the fighting. Schweiger said he told her the work was simply their job. The customer replied that she lived in the area and accepted the situation.