The Vegan Village in Israel's Negev Desert

The Village of Peace in Dimona, in Israel's Negev desert, is home to the African Hebrew Israelite community — a group that has lived a strict vegan lifestyle for decades. Following any specific diet alone is hard; when a whole village lives it, it becomes a chosen lifestyle.

The African Hebrew Israelites arrived in Israel in the early 1970s. For decades they lacked formal citizenship and lived in a legal limbo, though they were gradually recognized — granted permanent residency in 2003 and a path to citizenship later. Today the community numbers several thousand, centered in Dimona.

They exercise regularly, eat a plant-based diet, and take a holistic approach to caring for the body. At the heart of their vegan lifestyle is scripture — Genesis 1:29: "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." This verse is the basis of their chosen veganism.

Fun fact: Dimona is also sometimes called the "mini India" of Israel — it is home to a large Indian-Jewish community, mostly Bene Israel from Maharashtra.