The Peace Activist’s Cafe
Cafe California was a well-known Tel Aviv cafe and restaurant, founded by the peace activist Abie Nathan. The restaurant opened in 1959 at Passage Hod on the corner of Dizengoff and Frishman Streets, in the building that also housed the Cameri Theater (today it houses the Beit Lessin Theater).
California served an American-Italian menu, and was innovative and unusual for its time. It was the first restaurant in Israel to serve hamburgers, and even non-kosher cheeseburgers, with American-style fries, alongside Italian pasta dishes.
California quickly became one of the lively centers of bohemian life in Tel Aviv, and served as a kicking alternative to the older and more veteran meeting places such as Cafe Kassit and Cafe Ravel. It began operating at the end of the austerity period, imported new trends that were influenced by the cultural changes of the 1960s, and represented a young and updated entertainment culture. The restaurant closed in 1970.
Aybe Nathan was born in India to a traditional Jewish family and served as a pilot in the British Army in World War II. He immigrated to Israel during the War of Independence and served as a pilot in the young Israeli Air Force and later as a captain in the El Al company. Thanks to the popularity of Cafe California, Aybe Nathan met many key figures in Israel. These connections helped him during his political activity for peace, which he started in the mid-1960s. Among other things, he flew his private plane several times to Egypt, conducted many humanitarian operations, was in contact with PLO members even while this was against the law, and established the popular radio station "Voice of Peace" on a ship he specially purchased for this purpose.
(Anecdote authored by: עמיר)
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