Omer Yuval was an Israeli reserve soldier when, in the midst of Israel's summer war with Hamas in 2014, he ended up stuck on a base for nearly seven weeks. He had only recently become vegan for health reasons, and he quickly noticed that his options were limited at mealtimes.
"I just had to live on salads and order food from outside the base, using my own money," Yuval says. "I really couldn't manage. Nutrition for vegans came only from side dishes."
Yuval had one visit home during that time, and he managed to bring back some foods, like nuts, beans and tofu. He kept them in a closet in the room he shared with seven other soldiers, but it was not enough.
After the war, Yuval, 27, realized there were likely thousands of other vegan soldiers who were suffering from inadequate nutrition. About 5 percent of Israel's population is vegan, among the highest rates in the world. In a nation where military service is compulsory for most people, this means ever more vegans in uniform.
So Yuval drafted a letter to the army requesting more vegan meals, more nutritionally balanced food without animal products, vegan options for prepared sandwiches, and less bureaucracy in recognizing a soldier as vegan. The note included suggestions, such as adding hummus and soy milk to breakfast, quinoa to lunch and avocado to sandwiches.
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The Israeli military, it turns out, was surprisingly eager to help. A military spokesman tells The Salt that vegans serve in all capacities, including as combat soldiers. Vegan soldiers wear wool-free berets and leather-free boots, and they get an additional stipend to supplement their food, the military says.
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Haggai Matar, a vegan and a journalist in Tel Aviv, spent two years in prison as punishment for refusing the draft in 2002. He said he did not understand vegans who participated in what he sees as Israel's abuse of Palestinian rights.
"It's absurd that combat soldiers can feel very bad about hurting animals, but they have no problem to drop bombs on Gaza and kill hundreds of people," he says.
Matar, 31, says military prison had few vegan options, but his parents brought him soy chocolate milk, and he and other vegan prisoners were often allowed access to the prison kitchen.
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Yuval, the soldier who pushed for vegan food in the army, says not all vegans are pacifists.
"We are fighting terror organizations," he says. "I believe that the vegan reform in the IDF is paving the way for an even more moral army."
