btw... one just need to look at Katz face and you understand the type of person he is.

seriously ,who cares???? just to make another issue out of nothing? welcome to israel

Dump the arabic. they teach hatred for Israelis and you want to show them respect? Are you nuts?

israel is showing pride in the true one and only OFFICIAL language -- IVRIT, for the only country where IVRIM are the majority -- let's keep it that way

Regadless how much Mr. Katz (trans minister) hates arabs or Arabic, Israel has to be true to history. Since this historic piece of land was ruled by Arabs in the past and a considerable arab population still live here, arabic signs should carry the arabic names which are still widely used. So, for example, the arabic sign for Nazareth, Jerusalem or Jaffa should use the arabic name which is different that the Hebrew one. Just like in Hebrew capital cities like Amman and Damascus are called Rabat-Amon and Damesek which is different that the arabic name.

and everything written here.

Not in this country. Arabs are foreigners here, they have no real connection to this land, only a fictitious one. It is an outrage that their language is an official language of this country. This has to be reversed. As for the road signs, these need to be in proper English and Hebrew ONLY. No Arabic signs, period. This is NOT Ishmael or Arabia.

And the country's name should be spelt I s r e a l to match their pronounciation.

came first, Nazarath is Nazarath- the whole world call the city that way only he muslems want special consideration by having their own name to place much like their efforts to rewrite the old testament and the history, so nop use nazarath true name is Nazarat and that city will become Chritian once again.

arabs don't deserv respect than.

What a shallow and unconvincing argument. As absurd as suggesting that "It is an outrage that people are walking around with such names. This has to be reversed."

They should not have been re-named by brutal invaders that wished to wipe out hisory. Only right that when the orriginal owners come back into power they change the names back to what they should be. Check how much dirt poor, hungry Africa spends on changing names

I was pretty much on the author's side until the last line. If the ministry is going to use english and arabic on the road signs they should use the english and arabic names. The point of the signs is to inform travelers. Hebrew names written in english only makes things confusing. The line about 'greater israel' makes the author seem foolish.

Eretz Yisroel Ha Shleima calls for a "complete" land, not for a "greater" usurpation of the other's land as you would have it imply in your biased translation. That Yehudim would use terms for the land that is named for them beguiles you because you deny the historic homeland of their own name to them. What is there to respect of those that come to kill you with axes, bomb belts, foreign trained snipers and construction vehicles? It is vexing for me to hear others who should know better than to use Latin terms like "Judea" and "Samaria" when they could show some self-respect and use the historically correct transliterated terms "Yehuda", "Shomoron", "Binyamin", "Ephraim", etc etc....Its as if you are more beholden to Roman imperialists than your own Hebrew roots in the land of your own name. And then there is the more recently invented de-Yehudizing designation "West Bank", the largest river bank in the world. WB was invented by a London PR firm at the behest of the exiled Hashemite tyrant from the Hejaz for his illegally occupied territory in order to remove the Yehudim's historical connection to the land of their own name. Now if the UN charter concerning displaced persons was implemented, and if those that come to kill you had some self-respect, they would have their right of return enforced back to the nearby state of similar customs and traditions, including dar al Jihad. In fact, the genocidal, mass-murdering, extortionists, usurpers of your land and faith, should have their right of return enforced back to the homicidal, Hamite, peninsular homeland of their own name if only because it would be humane since you would not have to kill the mainstream, recidivist mass-murderers when they (G-d forbid) come to kill you again. Hebrew transliteration would be a breath of fresh air and bring clarity in the midst of the deadly, bloody fog that seeks to not just deny you the homeland of your own name, but to never refer to it by its historical designation. This one change in the states designation of its own land would dispel many myths of whose land it is. With any mention of the non-Hebrew term, your right to the land is explicitly denied.

For 60 years there has been no problem with road signs. This politically driven need to change seems to indicate a serious lack of confidence in who is "master of the land". So Transport minister Katz,use your talents to grapple with and solve the real problems that your ministry faces. You are old enough to remember that one former Transport Minister was mainly known as the man who cancelled the sales tax on windscreen wipers.I can only assume that you aspire to achievements of a more lofty nature.

There are more pressing problems than the road signs. People are hurt and killed on Israel's roads every day-- more have died on the roads than in all the wars since 1948. Signs with or without Arabic should be a lower priority than people's lives!

Arabs are foreigners here? Right.... So who was the majority population here when the Zionist movement started in the late 19th century? Arabs belong here as much as Jews do. Signs should be in Arabic as well as in Hebrew and English, since Arabic is also an official language of Israel. It's amazing to me that when people just mention these facts, the racists come crawling out of their holes.

Tourists need the English, so keep the traditional spelling of tourist attractions like Jerusalem, Haifa, Nazareth etc. Did any one notice on yesterdays photo that the sign for Nazaret DID say al Nasra in Arabic? Since Arabic is one of the official languages, MK Katz is just wasting Knesset time. What should be done is for the people who order the road signs to get their act together to avoid nonsenses like "Herzliyyya" "Hertzliya" and so on. We object to the sign in Tel Aviv which says "Rakevet" If you are a Hebrew reader, you get it in Hebrew, but for foreign visitors its incomprehsible.

Typical Israel Katz likudinik decision Never appointed for his qulifications non exsisitant but for his loud mouth Its easier then bulilding trains and might displase our Israeli Arabs what a great way to strat the day

IF there were any jews at all in Damascus or Rabat Amon(which we know there arent any) but lets say they were a MINORITY in those countries, would they DEAMAND the road signs be in heb? hebrew is the OFFICIAL lingo on our country-eng is used for tourists, get used to it!

In a civil democratic society, all citizens have rights. It is rather inappropriate for a majority to try to strip the rights of a locally-rooted citizen minority to have their own language and culture in a peaceful and respectful setting. Keep signs in Hebrew, and in Arabic, and in English. If there ever is greater stability in the region, Arabic signage would be especially useful for visiting neighbors. Signs need not be political symbols - they should be practical and helpful to people who need them, in a way they can understand.

Country was ruled by arabs for 22 years, back in 8th century. It would make more sense to have signs in Hebrew, English and Turkish. Perhaps latin, since it was ruled by crusaders for some 150 years and romans for a bit more... Or kurdish because it was ruled by mamlukes... And we must not forget greek... But, since hebrews adopted hebrew (which was originaly canaanite, Avraham spoke aramaic), it is the original lingua franca. If arabs are truly descended from canaanites (as they claim in their propaganda) they should be happy that roadsigns are getting back ancient canaanite names, replacing names given to places by saudi invaders that illegaly occupied the land in 8th century.

Much of these talk-backers are ignorant ****holes. The official languages of Israel are Hebrew and Arabic. We are in the Middle East and not in America! Jews spoke Arabic long before Arab countries existed and Jews lived in this region long before Arabs ever were here. Many scholars of the Arabic language are Jewish. My parents are from Aden and my wife's family from Tripoli in Libya. The Arabic language is a beautiful and rich language and speaking reading and writing Arabic is a joy. I have no insecurity about this. Many Israelis speak dialects of Arabic. Iraqi Jews, Morrocan Jews Tunisian Jews etc. this is no different to American Jews speaking English, in fact it is different since Arabic is an official language in Israel and English is not! Knowledge of Arabic is essential to live in the Middle East and it can only help to understand those that seek to destroy us. Indeed to understand and respect our enemies is paramount!

"Just a little SELF respect". What is Israel a Jewish, an Arab or an American country? In Quebec which is part of Canada, all the signs HAVE to be in French with small English titles. They are very jealous of their language and its cultural value.

Aramaic , befor that it was Hebrew, jews never spoke arabic except when they were on the exile in arab nations. so try rephrase that.

I am fully aware of the development of Arabic as a language and its relationship to Hebrew and Aramaic however Jews spoke Arabic in pre-Islamic times. It is a great language spoken by many Jews and should not threaten you. Speaking Arabic doesn't make anyone less Jewish or Israeli you seem to feel threatened by this?

There are still some rational people around here, thank god. Wake Up Israelis, we are sliding down towards fascism, racism and stupidity. There are Arab citizens in this country, accept it. Are we really lovers of Apartheid?

yes aramic language was presented here and hebrew and araby was derevatives of this language i know that iam from this region may my grandfathers spoke the aramic or the araby or the hebrew but i know that the islam kept the arabic language and expanded it to evry part in middle east but sorry to tell that the arabs now do not expand their language or their islam but sure the islam will keep the araby language for ever becouse kuran is in arabic language and it is god words in arabic as it was in the heart and on the toung of mohammad .. i believe i read it like the same when jebril told it and mohammad listen to it ..