Michael Eisenberg and Adi Levanon on Israel’s Tech Community After the October 2023 Attack

In an interview published on 12 October 2023, days after the Hamas-led attack on Israel, Harry Stebbings asks investors Michael Eisenberg and Adi Levanon about their families. Eisenberg says several relatives have been called to reserve duty and a cousin was killed while defending Kfar Aza. He says the funeral took place the previous night.

Levanon says her family is physically safe, but she left Tel Aviv with her young daughter because of the air-raid sirens. She describes trying to make the trips downstairs into a game for her child. “We’re safe but we’re not okay,” she says, distinguishing immediate physical safety from emotional wellbeing.

Asked about the situation, Levanon describes explosions, aircraft and widespread efforts to help people in southern Israel. She and Eisenberg cite casualty and missing-person estimates that were changing at the time; their figures and proportional comparison with US losses are contemporaneous statements, not a verified or current casualty count.

Eisenberg says people of several nationalities were among those taken hostage and describes a family connected to a colleague. He says the situation is fluid. Both guests emphasise how closely connected Israeli communities are, and how many families they know have been affected by death, injury, kidnapping or reserve mobilisation.

Stebbings asks what being called up means in practice. Eisenberg explains that his sons received messages, gathered equipment, joined their units and left home. One said goodbye to his pregnant wife before going to his base. He describes meeting reservists in the south and says he witnessed the response to another infiltration.

Eisenberg says his relatives are concerned for their families and country, grieving a cousin and determined to fight. He describes reported violence against people at the music festival and the distress caused by graphic material circulating online. His account is that of a participant speaking amid an unfolding crisis, not an independently verified reconstruction of each event.

Levanon describes volunteers in the technology community arranging flights, equipment and other support for reservists returning to Israel. She says a co-founder of one of her portfolio companies had been called up and the company was helping procure needed equipment. She and Eisenberg both have investment relationships with companies they discuss.

Eisenberg says technology companies and founders helped organise rescue work, citing an effort by a founder in his portfolio. He argues that investors should value resilience and predicts further investment in Israeli technology. That is his expectation as a venture investor, not an established outcome or a verified count of rescues.

Stebbings asks how startups operate when a quarter or a third of a team is called up. Levanon describes a volunteer list and founders balancing work, childcare and family members’ reserve duty. She says women in venture groups were sharing requests for help while schools were closed or disrupted.

Eisenberg describes companies spreading some staff across locations, including sending engineers abroad, to maintain continuity. He also names members of the technology community who had lost relatives and explains that the small, connected community was attending funerals and making condolence calls. These are his descriptions of people and events at the time.

Levanon says she was still conducting some diligence and speaking with investors and portfolio companies, but had postponed a fundraising trip. Her fund had not yet closed; she says 76% was committed. She describes being emotionally overwhelmed and prioritising immediate help, rather than expecting business to proceed normally.

Eisenberg says volunteers were also stocking supermarket shelves and moving food because reserve call-ups had reduced available labour. His firm was assembling resources for portfolio companies. He describes closing an investment even though its CEO and about a quarter of the company were in reserve duty, and arranging a delayed tax ruling so another company could pay salaries.

Eisenberg predicts the technology community will recover and presents an optimistic vision for the future. Levanon cautions that conditions may get worse before they improve. Both are expressing hopes or forecasts in the first days of the war, not making claims about what subsequently occurred.

Stebbings asks whether international responses have met expectations and says he felt hesitant to comment from London without direct experience. Eisenberg praises the early responses of several Western political and technology leaders, while strongly criticising some university and political responses. These assessments reflect his perspective and are contested political judgments.

Eisenberg relays a warning he says he received from a European political figure about misinformation and media coverage. The interview does not independently establish the allegations or the disputed details he mentions. He asks people outside Israel to speak against atrocities and antisemitism and cites reports of antisemitic incidents.

Eisenberg also reports receiving support from people in the United Arab Emirates and Muslims in technology. Levanon says she has seen significant public support for Israel, including a letter she says had been signed by around 150 venture firms, while believing more support was needed. The count is her contemporaneous account.

Stebbings asks about claims involving Saudi funding of Hamas. Both guests say they do not know enough to answer that question; Eisenberg separately voices a critical view of Qatar. Their discussion does not establish a funding trail and should not be read as evidence about particular people or institutions.

Eisenberg criticises statements and perceived equivocation at universities, describing the response in moral terms. Levanon argues that people should not ignore hate and says she wants Israelis and Palestinians to live peacefully alongside one another. Their views on institutions and the conflict are their own and do not represent every affected community.

Eisenberg urges listeners to take threats seriously and describes his teenage daughter and neighbours collecting food and supplies for displaced families. He invites support for humanitarian work and for hostages and their families. His account focuses on the community he knows in Israel.

Levanon speaks about her upbringing, the value she places on human life and her hope that her daughter will not need military service. She characterises Israel’s military actions as defensive and humane and frames the danger as extending beyond Israel. These are her views; the conversation does not investigate the wider humanitarian consequences or make an independent assessment of conduct in the war.

To end on a personal note, Eisenberg recounts a wedding held near the Gaza border after the groom was called up, and another father joining a child’s ceremony by video. He describes an offer to host a wedding for another reservist couple. For him these stories illustrate a desire to sustain family life amid war.

Stebbings responds that the wish to marry, have children and enjoy life is a human aspiration. Eisenberg agrees while expressing his determination to defeat those he regards as responsible for the attack. The speakers close by thanking the host for opening the conversation and expressing support for people affected.