Israel is a very small, young and vibrant country with a surprisingly different cultural take on almost every topic and issue under the sun. This is quite surprising since the cultural backbone of its inhabitants come from almost every corner of the earth.

So, before I start to discuss the differences between Israeli culture and the rest of the world, first I think that it’s important to clarify what are cultural differences?

Cultural differences are the various beliefs, behaviours, languages, practices and expressions considered unique to members of a specific ethnicity, race or national origin.

Cultural Differences

These “cultural differences” in Israel are buttressed first and foremost in the heritage and time old traditions and culture of the Jewish people. Israeli’s often tend to down play their rich heritage, preferring to focus on the “Secular Modern Israeli” aspect of their cultural norms. Israel is a beautiful tapestry of ancient and modern, young and old, cutting edge and rock solid tradition mixed in with the energy of growth, creation and improvisation. 

Whenever I accompany foreigners on their first visit to the promised land I always make sure to start with a few cultural clarifications before we hit the road. First, I tell them “Welcome to everybody’s business because they will definitely be in yours” and secondly, when trying to understand or decipher there “In your face” attitude try comparing Israel to a close family member. In a sense, they behave with familiarity towards one and other as a sign of togetherness and sharing a common burden rather than just interfering in someone else’s sh*t, which also happen a lot. 

Israeli business culture is intense, complex and informal. Israelis are straightforward, persistent and urgent people. In Israel, the main meal of the day is eaten at lunchtime. Communally sitting together and eating a hot meal during work hours is an essential practice. Understanding the importance of this “together time” is imperative when trying to comprehend their interactive relationship based culture. 

This stands in complete contrast to the western cultural norms based on strict structural hierarchy and rules that exist in the western world.  

Israelis interact with each other in a direct and informal manner and the concept of formal work practices and methodologies take a secondary level of importance. I recently read the following quote that to a certain extent sums up much of what I having been trying to explain.

“Israelis are generally fond of debate and will typically discuss any topic very passionately…. Visitors are often taken aback by the tone or loudness of the discussion… “Intel Guidebook – Working with Israelis

When dealing with Israelis do not, I repeat “do not” use subtleties or understatements as they will completely miss the mark and go over their heads.

Speed Communication

In Israel communication is fast and to the point. That is why sometimes they are misunderstood and thought to be rude, pushy and aggressive. They don’t beat around the bush as they perceive this as a waste of time, and time is the most valuable resource that a person has.

Often when engaging in an intense discussion where voices are raised and tension is thick, the parties involved will completely rotate on the spot and ask each other where they want to go and eat lunch together. During the ensuing meal the previous argument will most probably not even be mentioned again. During the “said discussion” if you happened to be observing it from the side you might even have concluded that by the end of the meeting, that one of the parties would be either fired or resign.

Communication

To understand the Israeli high speed interactive communication style, it is interesting to note the disparity between cultures based on the discrepancy between the number of words between the English and the Hebrew vocabularies. For example, there are 400,000 in words in English to the 40,000 in words in Hebrew. So, if the objective of inter communication is efficiently, then transferring accurate information in Hebrew literally takes 10% of the words that it does in English or any other similar comparable language to reach an understanding. This certainly helps to understand the speed and intensity of conversation.

The speed and intensity of Hebrew also effects the perception of Israelis by foreign onlookers when attempting to understand what the heck is going on…. 

Management Practices 

When trying to understand and build trust in the workplace, it is important to understand the fundamental and core foundations on which this trust is built. When dealing with project management the western cornerstone of understanding is solidly based on expected on-time and on-budget practices, task according to skill set and profession. Israelis on the other hand, expect changes and have a more anarchistic approach.

“You might feel that an Israeli is attacking you, or being very aggressive, because [their] tone of voice is louder; [their] facial expressions are more intimidating; [and their] body language is more overbearing,”888.com Training manual – Company policy Guide

When dealing with management issues, Israelis interpret requests from their managers as recommendations and in addition, many Israelis think that every statement can be the start of a discussion, dispute, or a long drawn out negotiation.

Problem Solving

When dealing with a problem Israelis provide quick and immediate solutions based on improvisation, this is excellent when you need to solve a problem quickly. Though, this technique has its problems, the lack of careful planning often results in the inability to repeat the process later on. 

This means that although solutions are quick to produce the “time to delivery” doesn’t speed up over time. 

It is culturally expected from all ranks within a company framework to give feedback no matter how brutal and straight forward it can be, and it doesn’t matter if the feedback comes from an expert in the given field or not.

“Israelis have an almost complete lack of respect for authority. Israelis are by and large all Chiefs, not Braves. There is a constant push to advance in rank in Israeli society and a sense that staying some time at a certain place grants you “rights” even if you do not over-perform – probably a relic from Army or Socialist days.”Fraud Prevention, Payments, Machine Learning by Ohad Samet

Punctuality 

Being on time to meetings is relaxed and flexible. During a meeting people may take telephone calls and allow others into the office during the meeting. Interruptions such as these are common in Israeli culture. In Israel, people are expected and able to do many things at the same time. In the western world, there is a completely different behavioural norm, doing one task at a time, finishing it and then moving onto the next task.

“Lack of hierarchy is also a crucial element. For many from outside of Israel, this idea is radical. But in Israel, where army recruits can – and do — oust their unit leaders, it makes sense that in subsequent startups (the obvious next step after the army), everyone – from secretaries to new high-tech recruits to founders of companies – has a voice and at least three opinions.”Inter Guidebook – Working with Israelis 

Conclusion

As we enter the 21st Century together with the commencement of the new media information age allies, partnerships and economies will be shaped by new and previously unheard of relationships. Countries and peoples that in a previous time and age would never have been able to interact, will find themselves either adapting to the new world order that is transforming before our eyes or simply fade away into another chapter in history.

Israel is a technological and intellectual juggernaut and as such is leading the charge by creating working partnerships with many interesting a new team mates, some of which have yet to openly admit it in the public sphere. 

As every age relies on certain commodities and resources to flourish the digital age is no different. Israel has a massive wealth of human resources and intellectual power in this arena. So, learning to understand the Israeli mentality will become more and more important when trying to tackle future challenges and tasks in the coming age.

All in all, Israel is a beautiful nation of doer’s, go getters and urgent over achievers. Israelis are caring and deeply involved people with big hearts and even bigger attitudes. Working in Israel is most certainly a challenge for some, but the rewards are boundless and the friendships and interactive efforts made are exciting and full of value. Israeli’s have a very special way of making you feel at home and instantly making you feel part of the family.

If you want to get along with them, then say what you mean and mean what you say. Israelis have no shame when it comes to asking for favours or questioning the rules – so why should you. If you want something just ask…