According to Gil Marks, the pita falafel sandwich was popularized after Israel’s independence.
Marks connects the sandwich’s rise to the years after 1948, especially the 1950s, when Jewish Yemeni refugees helped popularize falafel served inside pita. The combination became an inexpensive, portable meal and was gradually absorbed into Israeli street-food culture.
The timing does not mean falafel itself was invented in Israel. Falafel most likely originated in Egypt and had already spread through the Middle East, including Mandatory Palestine, before Israel became independent. A 1939 Palestine Post article is often cited as an early written reference to falafel served in pita as street food.
A common mix-up is treating the modern Israeli sandwich’s popularity as proof of the dish’s national origin. Falafel has older Egyptian and broader Middle Eastern roots, while its Israeli pita-sandwich identity developed through migration, adaptation, rationing, and street vending.