Since 2005, when Israeli forces completely withdrew from the Gaza Strip, various militant groups have occupied the area and intense military confrontations have ensued between the Israelis and different terrorist organizations. And in recent years, tensions between the Israeli people and the Palestinians in the West Bank have significantly heightened. Issues such as territorial claims and cultural divides have been at the heart of the conflict in the region, yet what many seem to overlook in this multilayered issue is the role that a plant-based vegan diet may have in quelling the fire that has consumed Israel and the surrounding areas.

How a Vegan Diet Comes into Play

What many miss when it comes to this political issue is the fact that much of the sustained conflict in and around Israel has been the result of militant forces on all sides consuming animal products. In a recent report published by the Boston Organization of Organic Bites (BOOB), conclusions are drawn which have sparked debate among foodies across the globe. The report suggests that people who eat animal products as compared to people who follow a whole food plant-based vegan diet are 600x more likely to exhibit violent behavior. Given the prevalence of meat in the diets of those in the region, it comes as no surprise that military conflict has continued at a constant rate. A recent tweet by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirms this sad reality.

What Can be Done to Address the Issue

Leading pro-vegan organization LeafTheAnimalsAlone has issued a statement in hopes of dealing with this meaty problem:

“If everybody in and around Israel, including those in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, adopted a plant-based vegan diet, the odds of the military conflict increasing or even being sustained would become very unlikely, as each person who changed their diet would have much less violent tendencies.” – LAA

However, many members of the meat-eating community have spoken out against this strategy. Dubbed “Meaties”, these defenders of the consumption of animal products are taking a stand to protect their rights to their diets. Post Malone, an active journalist for the Israeli Times and music artist in his free time, has been particularly involved in this issue. In a recent tweet, he presented a convincing argument in support of a diet including animal products:

There are clearly strong arguments on both sides of the issue, but we can all remain hopeful that a vegan diet can act asÝ a solution to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Dr. Elmore J. McMillingsworth, Ph.D.