Weapon of distraction: How Israel uses greenwashing to mask its climate crimes
Asma Barakat writes in Middle East Eye on 22 September 2026:
For decades, Israel has projected a narrative of being a beacon of sustainability. A major part of this facade is its food tech industry, particularly its latest advancements in lab-grown and cell-cultivated foods.
This past April, Israeli food tech company Celleste Bio reportedly produced the world’s first lab-grown chocolate bars. The company touts a proprietary technology that enables it to eliminate the cocoa industry’s “costly reliance on fragile rainforests”.
Celleste Bio is backed by Mondelez International, a multibillion-dollar parent corporation of brands such as Cadbury and Oreo, making the possibility of lab-grown chocolate on consumer shelves closer than ever.
Israel has frequently been ranked among the world’s top global food tech start-up nations. Its champions assert that lab-grown foods require fewer resources than traditional agriculture, and can offer alternatives to the slaughtering of animals – all amid the continuing genocide and starvation campaign in Gaza.
Foodwashing, or the use of sustainable food harvesting methods to distract from crimes against humanity, is a key part of Israel’s broader greenwashing agenda. The state promotes “environmentally friendly” initiatives to mask its human rights abuses against Palestinians.