More than a third of Israelis lack access to standard protected spaces against ballistic missile threats, exposing a significant gap in civil defense infrastructure. Rather than waiting for government intervention, a private citizen-led platform called Angels of the Shelter is connecting vulnerable residents with available safe rooms through voluntary community participation.
The platform was developed by Tamir Cohen, a 26-year-old biomedical engineering student at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba, who identified the need after observing relatives and friends forced to move repeatedly between homes seeking shelter. Cohen was born in Kiryat Ono and is participating in the LEADERS program of the Entrepreneurship Center 360 at the university, where he created the website as an open-access initiative.
Angels of the Shelter operates on a straightforward market principle: it mediates between shelter owners willing to open their homes and people without protection seeking refuge. The platform arranges accommodation in advance rather than in real time, allowing residents to arrive at protected spaces with advance notice. Users can view available shelters within a few minutes' walk and filter options by host type, accessibility and distance.
The Problem and the Solution
Cohen's personal experience catalyzed the initiative. Four years ago, while hiking the Israel National Trail, which runs from Kibbutz Dan in the north to Eilat in the south and is 1,100 km long, he discovered the value of community assistance. More recently, during the current security situation, he found himself staying with neighbors who had built a protected space in their garden—arriving in his pajamas when missile warnings sounded, along with other neighbors and their dogs.
"Since the start of the war, I have come across quite a few cases of relatives and friends who have wandered from house to house," Cohen said. "I also saw articles about people sleeping on the light rail or in parking lots, and about weddings held in shelters."
Cohen drew inspiration from his hiking experience. "The Israel National Trail is a hiking path marked white, blue, and orange. Its significance lies in promoting national identity, commemorating fallen soldiers, connecting diverse cultures, and fostering tourism through its immense geographical, historical, and religious diversity," he explained. "This is where I got the idea to connect this feeling with the need I identified during the war on the home front. I decided to establish a platform called 'Angels of the Shelters' which brings the spirit of the 'Angels of the Trail' to the world of emergency routine."
The platform is now being used by Israelis across the country. Cohen emphasized the mutual benefit: "I was interested in promoting solidarity, bringing people who have protected spaces in their homes or gardens and are ready to welcome neighbors who lack them." He noted that his relationship with the couple who first sheltered him has evolved into genuine friendship, developed through conversations in their protected space.
Cohen's own family participates in the initiative. His parents in Kiryat Ono, who have encouraged him throughout the project, have a protected space in their apartment that they share with others. Cohen served in the IDF in intelligence technology before pursuing his studies at BGU, where he is now in his fourth year. He is simultaneously working for a small startup involved in promoting women's medicine and fertility that will soon conduct clinical studies.
University Entrepreneurship Program as Catalyst
The LEADERS program that enabled Cohen's initiative was established a few years ago and is headed by Gadi Bahat, an experienced management and business professional. Bahat articulated the program's philosophy: "We cultivate entrepreneurs who know how to create value in a changing reality."
Bahat praised Cohen's approach: "Tamir identified a real-time need, connected it to a personal experience, and built a relevant solution, and this is exactly the standard we aim for. We select excellent students, set a high bar for them, and accompany them with real tools that also develop a sense of competence, to turn ideas into action – because in the end, this is what produces results."
The Entrepreneurship 360 Center promotes innovation and entrepreneurship in the Negev region and plays a vital role in connecting academia and industry. It was established with a vision to transform ideas from university communities into impactful initiatives and constitutes a dynamic ecosystem in which students, researchers and professionals collaborate to advance technological and social developments.
The LEADERS program consists of two semesters during the year and includes a two-week summer accelerator at the beginning of August in which students translate classroom experience into a venture in the real world. The first semester focuses on the early stages of innovation, including developing an idea for a business and turning ideas into successful business opportunities. The second semester emphasizes the move from opportunity to implementation and gives students the knowledge and skills required to create the right conditions for success.
Bahat emphasized the program's comprehensive approach: "From academic knowledge and leadership skills to hands-on training and implementation, LEADERS takes students on a step-by-step journey through the entire process of entrepreneurship, ensuring that they have a solid footing in each stage before proceeding to the next."
Cohen's vision extends beyond emergency response. He said, "It's for an emergency, and it is saving lives. But I want to turn this cooperation into one used in routine times, for example, so that people, including the elderly, won't feel alone."
Why This Matters:
Angels of the Shelter demonstrates how private initiative and voluntary community cooperation can address gaps in government infrastructure more rapidly and efficiently than bureaucratic solutions. Rather than waiting for state-funded civil defense expansion, citizens are voluntarily opening their homes, creating a distributed network of protection without public expenditure. The platform's success—already used by Israelis across the country—illustrates the principle that individuals and communities often respond more effectively to real-time needs than centralized government programs. The initiative also reflects the broader value of university entrepreneurship programs that encourage students to identify problems and deploy market-based solutions. Cohen's approach prioritizes individual responsibility and mutual aid over government mandates, while simultaneously addressing a genuine security vulnerability. The model raises questions about the appropriate division between private responsibility and government obligation in civil defense, and whether similar community-based solutions could address other infrastructure gaps more cost-effectively than traditional government spending.