Always be wary when you are comparing polls, such as those calculating the number of vegetarians/vegans. We’ve been seeing articles that say that 5% of Israelis are vegans and 8% more are vegetarians. We do know there are plenty of vegan options in Israel. One member living there told us that even when visiting a Russian grocery store known for its meat, he saw a whole row of frozen veggie meat alternatives. However, we asked Richard Schwartz, author of the Vegan Revolution to try to track down that Israeli poll figure. He was told that it appears that the 5% and 8% figures are self-defined vegetarians and vegans. So that would be people that call themselves vegetarians or vegans, which as we all know can have different meanings to people. That is important information; however, it should not be compared directly to polls such as The Vegetarian Resource Group’s polls, which ask about foods people do not eat, rather than what they call themselves. 

For information on VRG’s polls on the number of vegans and vegetarians, see https://www.vrg.org/nutshell/faq.htm#poll
For information on Vegan Revolution, see https://lanternpm.org/books/vegan-revolution/