Postmen, whose encyclopaedic knowledge of their neighbourhood had long been the backbone of mail distribution, had lost track of their flock during the fighting.
It was an absurd amount of money for the bank to lend Stern, whose business history included operating clothing distribution companies that imported clothes from Mexico and two contentious corporate bankruptcies.
For businesses this was ominous, said Williger Joseph chairman of Willi Food, whose warehouse in Yavne to the south of Tel Aviv is piled high with tinned, canned and bottled produce for distribution across the country and beyond.