Wild edible plants of Israel and Palestine

Wild edible plants in the geographical region known as Israel, like in other countries, have been used to sustain life in periods of scarcity and famine, or else simply used as a supplementary food source for additional nourishment and pleasure. The diverse flora of Israel and Palestine offers a wide-range of plants suitable for human consumption, many of which have a long history of usage in the daily cuisines of its native peoples.

In the State of Israel there is a law (33A) that provides for the preservation of protected natural objects of value. The law includes a list of protected sites and wild plants (flora) and animals (fauna). The law encourages the regulation of the conservation of wild plants in general, and prohibits picking, trading or causing any other damage to protected wild plants.

The local population has, traditionally and in various times of its settlement, made use of these plants, which they gathered for human consumption, whether to be eaten fresh or by steeping them in hot water, or by cooking, or by making use of them as a spice or condiment. All plants herein named are without regulation and can be utilised by the public, unless otherwise noted as protected under Israeli law.

History of foraging
According to Jewish tradition, the history of foraging dates back to the first man, Adam, whom after God had cursed and caused two species of thistle, qōṣ and dardar in Genesis 3:18, to spring-up from the ground, the same plants were given to him as food – had at leisure, along with his bread procured by his own sweat. According to German orientalist, Gustaf Dalman, who researched the cultivated and wild edible plants grown in Palestine, "[as] for all plants, the young growths of spring are used; for the thistles usually only the core and the stem. Otherwise, the principle 'every herb can be eaten' (kull ʻeshb bittākal) is valid." Foraging for edible plants and fungi requires extensive knowledge of flora in order to avoid culling and eating toxic or noxious species. Certain edible plants may have parts that are unfit for human consumption.

In a survey conducted among Arabs in the West Bank, the five most-frequently mentioned wild herbs and leaf vegetables praised for their taste are, in their order of preference: wild marjoram, three-lobed sage, mallows, cyclamen, and Tumble thistle.

Trees
Many different fruit trees (e.g. grapes, figs, dates, olives, walnuts, plums, almonds, etc.) were cultivated in the country. Some of these trees and vines can still be found in abandoned villages and state-owned properties, which make them accessible to all. Rarer varieties of fruit trees, such as wild medlars (Cotoneaster nummularia) and wild cherries (Cerasus prostrata), can be found in elevations of around 1700 m on Mount Hermon. Still, wild edible fruit trees are plenteous all throughout Israel and Palestine, of which these are the most common in their geographic regions: