{"id":250333,"date":"2026-08-15T15:55:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T15:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/250333\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T15:55:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T15:55:14","slug":"australian-immigrant-to-israel-quits-job-during-iran-war-to-start-new-businesss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/250333\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian immigrant to Israel quits job during Iran war to start new businesss"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m an Australian lawyer who made aliyah just before October 7<\/a>, had my third baby here, then quit my NGO job during the war with Iran to launch a babywear brand,\u201d says Miriam Agranat, the 33-year-old daughter of an Israeli-born mother and Australian father.<\/p>\n

She had long harbored the dream of making aliyah, having been raised in a strongly Zionist home, attending a Zionist school, and participating in the Bnei Akiva youth movement in Sydney<\/a>. In high school, she and several 10th-grade girls spent a school term in Israel. \u201cThe trip had such a profound impact on me that adjusting back to life in Australia wasn\u2019t easy,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Until the time was right, she earned a law degree at Macquarie University and landed a job at a large corporate law firm. She married her high school sweetheart, Ori, in 2016. When their first baby came along six years ago, she shifted into venture capital and found it much more fulfilling than corporate law. Still, not all the pieces were exactly in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife in Australia<\/a> is beautiful and comfortable, but it was missing something,\u201d she says. \u201cMy husband and I talked about wanting more for our children. So we decided to make the move to Israel once we had a three-year-old and a less-than-one-year-old.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On a pilot trip, they visited various communities and chose Modi\u2019in because of its central location, not knowing where they\u2019d be working. \u201cIt has turned out to be the best thing. It\u2019s quite Anglo, with a mix of Americans, British, Australians, and South Africans, and we\u2019ve been welcomed with open arms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"(Illustrative)(Illustrative) Ballistic missiles launched from Iran, as seen over Jerusalem, during the war with Iran and ongoing missile fire toward Israel, April 7, 2026. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL\/FLASH90)<\/p>\n

One of her two younger sisters had made aliyah a few years before, and her parents followed a year later, also settling in Modi\u2019in<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re all on a high here. I\u2019m so thankful we are here, especially with what\u2019s happening in Australia now,\u201d Agranat says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She recounts that when she tells people that they arrived in August 2023, \u201ceveryone says, \u2018Oh my gosh, what bad timing!\u2019 But it was one of the best decisions we ever made. We\u2019ve created such incredible friends here; we\u2019re in such a special community that became like family, and we landed very special jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agranat discovers outlet for long-felt entrepreneurial desire<\/p>\n

Her husband works for an energy company. She got a job in January 2024 as donor relations manager for Orr Shalom, a national organization for children and youth at risk. She loved her work there, but a year ago, after giving birth to her third child, she discovered an outlet for a long-felt entrepreneurial desire.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d always had an itch to start my own business. When we made aliyah, it wasn\u2019t the right time. The war started, and I was a new immigrant and didn\u2019t know anything about anything here. So I opted to do something meaningful,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, when I was on maternity leave, I didn\u2019t find baby clothing here that I liked, and I felt that I needed to bring the standard I know from Australia. The itch to start my own business came back full force.\u201d<\/p>\n

She spent time during her maternity leave developing the idea and researching the basics of how to turn it into a business for the Israeli market. She chose the name Tiftaf (Hebrew for \u201cdroplets\u201d) \u201cbecause it\u2019s catchy, playful, associated with Israeli childhood, and filled with Israeli soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agranat built Tiftaf as a one-woman operation, teaching herself every part of the process from scratch: design, textile patterns, manufacturing, importing, marketing, filling orders, and brand-building. Her father, a serial e-commerce entrepreneur, supported her with the technical side of the business.<\/p>\n

The first product is an infant onesie made of a stretchy blend of organic cotton and bamboo. It features a two-way zipper for easy diaper changing, fold-over feet that become socks, and fold-over sleeves that become protective mittens. These premium features blend Australian standards with Israeli creativity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m releasing the onesies in very limited drops and collaborating with Israeli local artists. They\u2019re doing extremely bold, colorful prints,\u201d Agranat says.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the next drop that\u2019s currently live, I commissioned a Tel Aviv artist I met in Nahalat Binyamin. She painted two beautiful designs \u2013 a Tel Aviv landscape and a playground. Once that sells out, it will not come back, so it\u2019s essentially a collectible,\u201d she notes. \u201cTiftaf clothing is functional, beautiful, authentic, and unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite launching the business during the war with Iran and the website in mid-May amid continuing geopolitical uncertainty, Agranat found the response \u201cexceptional and mind-blowing. Within the first five minutes of going live, I had 40 people at checkout. After a week, I\u2019d sold half my stock and realized I\u2019m really filling in a gap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Social media influencers with tens of thousands of followers discovered the brand organically, including one who reached out after seeing Tiftaf shared in a local WhatsApp group and offered to help.<\/p>\n

\u201cOthers began following before I had even approached them, and later chose to share the product as well. I felt truly supported by a community who genuinely wanted to back a small, female-led business.\u201d<\/p>\n

The challenges of starting a new business amid a war<\/p>\n

Much as Agranat enjoys realizing her entrepreneurial ambitions, it hasn\u2019t been simple in these extraordinary times.<\/p>\n

\u201cShipping the first drop in wartime was very touch-and-go. I paid a huge amount for air shipping and was on the phone with FedEx and customs officials every day. I was lucky that it came through in time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe morning after the drop arrived, I had a photographer come to do a photo shoot, then we promoted it and went live. It was a fast and very stressful process. But it had a great response.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agranat says she believes that part of building a life in Israel is noticing where things can be better and feeling responsible enough to help improve them. She noted that she has taken to heart the phrase, \u201cIf not me, then who?\u201d echoed in the words and diaries of fallen Israeli soldiers, including Capt. Daniel Perez.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it is not about focusing on what is different or difficult here,\u201d she says. \u201cIt is about asking what I can contribute. If not me, then who? That idea really permeates me. We all have a responsibility, in whatever small way we can, to help build the country we want to live in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miriam Di Veroli Agranat, 33<\/p>\n

From Sydney to Modi’in, 2023<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019m an Australian lawyer who made aliyah just before October 7, had my third baby here, then quit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[5859,1648,28479,328,37,215,503,1413],"class_list":["post-250333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-aliyah","tag-australia","tag-baby","tag-business","tag-israel","tag-israel-iran-war","tag-magazine","tag-the-october-7-massacre"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117100342890667094","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}