Arava Restaurant Ursula Up for Sale After Eight Years Amid Industry Struggles
After eight years in Tzukim, the Ursula restaurant is up for sale for 350,000 NIS. Owners cite crushing regulations, remote location challenges, and war impacts as reasons to exit.
After eight years of operation, the Ursula restaurant in the Arava community of Tzukim is up for sale, with its owners planning to exit the restaurant industry. In an announcement published by the owners, they are offering to transfer the restaurant, along with its equipment and infrastructure, for a key money fee of 350,000 NIS plus VAT. According to the owners, this is a loss-making price equivalent to about a month of the restaurant's turnover. Current operations are expected to continue in the coming months, with the planned handover date set for January 1, 2027.
Behind the decision, according to the owners, are the economic difficulties involved in operating a restaurant in a remote and sparsely populated area, alongside regulatory costs, taxation, and the blow to tourism during wartime. Daniel Netzer, who co-owns the restaurant with his partner, tells Globes that he and his wife decided to leave the industry and are even considering leaving the Arava.
"It's a survival game, and I'm tired," Netzer says. "The restaurant world in the country is an unfair world. There are restaurateurs who come home after a workday and find out they need to pull money out of their pocket, or that they earned pennies. You run a restaurant out of love, but after eight years, in some of which we didn't make a profit and sometimes even lost money, we reached exhaustion. This should be a wake-up call for decision-makers, because people like us are getting tired due to unfairness. A restaurateur earns about 10% of turnover, and in our case, it's probably not enough."
Ursula operates as a Farm-to-Table restaurant, based on fresh ingredients and in-house preparation of menu items. However, Netzer notes, investment in the product and ongoing operations does not guarantee economic viability over time. The restaurant's owners argue that one of the most significant difficulties is the need to comply with regulatory requirements involving substantial financial investments, alongside the tax burden and fixed business expenses.
"You can't treat a restaurateur in Tel Aviv the same as a restaurateur in the Arava," Netzer stresses, pointing to draconian business licensing laws and high VAT burdens. He also emphasizes the ongoing damage to activity following the wars, noting that state aid covers only a fraction of the losses while fixed expenses remain. Despite the challenges, Netzer hopes someone will take over the business as the owners prepare to step away and return to being salaried employees.
