The term Leben, variously laban, liben, lben // ⓘ (Arabic: لبن) in the Middle East and North Africa,[1] refers to a food or beverage of fermented milk.

[2] Leben as a drink is traditionally prepared by letting milk ferment for around 24 hours, then churning and removing the butter.

In the early 20th century, small dairies run by Ashkenazi Jews in what was then Ottoman Palestine began producing the yogurt variant in quantity.

During the tzena (austerity) period that followed the War of Independence, leben qualified for the state rationing system and was issued as a basic staple dairy product.

In the 1970s, strawberry and chocolate flavoured varieties of leben appeared on store shelves, but these have largely been supplanted by fruit-flavoured yogurts.