Must say with Yes abd 012 I have never had trouble, if the C.S op does not speak english someone always calls back pretty quick. What I cant stand is, Press 1 for Ivrit, 2. Rusit, 3, Arabia, 4 english. You press 4 and the auto information is in Hebrew or the CS Op cant speak English.

ha! you should hear my stories omg...

Sad but true, and I doubt it will change

I wanted to donate a fairly large sum of money to Tel haShomer hospital, after having got passed from one person to another , call back tommorw , 3 days later i eventually got someone who said he would call back, Naturally he didnt. Oh well they just lost out big time, and all i wanted to do was to donate some money to the Childrens ward. Their loss, as i have plenty of other charities i support.

the majority of employers are not looking for English speakers , usually they are after people that speak Russian and Arabic ,and in some places Spanish , but English ? the majority of places i've looked for a job in the last years, the fact that i speak flawless English doesn't count for much unfortunately.

As if English were the only important language. Israelis speak Kurdish, Arabic, French and a hundred different languages. This imperialist attitude that the man in the street (or the bus driver) has to speak English is crazy. The bus driver and the call centre workers would not be working in those jobs if their education included English. Get real!

If you don't, there are a lot of ulpanim. If you are a tourist, well... very sad, but it's even better in Israel than in France :-])

my generation (the 25~ year-olds) has great English knowledge, mostly because back when we were kids, there were a lot of American shows (sitcoms mostly) airing on public TV. Nowadays most of the American shows air in niche cable channels and the public channels are filled with localized reality shows. It seems today that knowing English is considered to be too 'elitist' by a big chunk of society.

ARe all the faltzanim in Tel Aviv that generally work in cafes and speak very good English, taking every possible opportunity to use it even when its clear that you, an oleh, can speak Hebrew. Example: Oleh: Shalom, efshar lehazmin? Waitress: Oh hello, would you like an english menu? Oleh: Lo rotziti lehazmin, or ten li tafrit b'ivrit. Waitress: Yes of course sir, I will bring you a menu in English. And before anyone tries to tell me "oh they are just trying to be helpful" - then why reply in English when its clear that I speak Hebrew? I don't need help thanks with my English... I live here. I need to speak Hebrew. So all you faltzaniot waitresses reading this, drop the fancy english with the fake english accent (that sounds totally ridiculous) and just reply in Hebrew.

This was my life for 9 months... SO true!

so no native Israelis read this site or these talkbacks. Just saying.

language you speak!

Wrong ,I'm native Israeli, my mother language is Hebrew , yet , i rather read the English section of Ynet. and btw i also wrote talk back #5 .

i support u!!! around 10% of US population is latino...why the US goverment officials do not speak Spanish????......if you go to Israel and you need to deal with the government, hebrew is its language..but if you go to a tourist agency, Then, english will be needed!!!...do not ask something just because you do not know the language

I am now in Israel. This is my 9th visit to Israel, and I've never experienced any problems getting information, gettting around, talking, meeting Israelis.. In my opinion most Israelis have sufficient english skills - not only those in the tourist industry, but all over Israel. And if someone don't undertsand, they still help you by asking someone else and hooking you up. Ein baiya. P.s. I'm currently studying hebrew.

All over the Arab Gulf (I've lived in Oman, Saudi, Bahrain and Kuwait) the locals speak English. By "locals," I don't mean just the hordes of S.E. Asians who work here but the Arabs themselves. Even if they know only a few words, they go out of their way to help you. Nobody has EVER been rude to me or fobbed me off when I spoke in English instead of Arabic. Shame, shame. The Interior Ministry incident though was funny. "Another clerk, in Hebrew: If I knew how to say it in English, would I be working here?" LOL!!! Great to see the pride they have in their jobs and in themselves!

The translation of "kaved ohf" on a menu was, no kidding, "Respect the Chicken". Everyone salute!

Ma??? Do you speak English? Ma???? Do you speak English? (You are hanged up)

try the ministry of transportation. they have a website in english, with an e mail address in english - send an e mail. NO ONE answers. 1. no one speaks english 2, website is down since august.

Ruth just to remind you that English is an official language in Israel along with Arabic. And apart from anything is internationally recognized as the world's common language. So maybe you're the one that should get real?

How do you know who reads this site? the posters on this talkback have Israeli names... "just saying" - oh aren't you cool...

Actually this isn't funny. There are a lot of immigrants and tourists that need help in English or who's Hebrew is still very limited, if you choose an English option at a call center then you should get an English speaker. Look at all the talk backs here, they are English, not in the Hebrew section of YNET.

I do not know how Bank Hapoalim gets on the good service in English list - I have been in Israel for 2 1/years and only once in that time has anyone really been prepared to assist me in English - the first 2 years in Israel - Beersheva - all communication, documentation etc has been in Hebrew. Even when I opened my bank account with no Hebrew I received no assistance in English - opened the account signed 16 documents and still do not know if I have signed my life away!!

You should hear the stories from my 87 year old mother who lives in Israel & does not speak Hebrew, about her interactions with HOT, Bezeq, Kupat Cholim, and the list goes on. Hilarious !!

If you live in Israel, learn Hebrew. If you're an oleh then it's the east you can do, to learn your people's language. What kind of snob would expect everything to be available for them in flawless English? If that's your attitude, what's the point of living in a Hebrew country?

I have found that if you are an English speaker here that most gov, offices try to help you above and beyond,I went to betuiah leumi , they found an English speaker to help me , she even filled out the forms and was very polite, compared to the rest of the clerks that spoke only Hebrew. As for Doctors I only deal with English speakers because I want to fully understand everything they say to me, plus since all the medical Journals are in English I want a MD that is upto date on all the latest treatments. There is no reason why every business that deals with the public should not employ good English speakers, after all they employ Russian Speakers.,So why should I also not have the ability to talk to someone in English since my Hebrew is lacking.

Yossef #7, shame on you, i live here, love it here, but for my life i cannot speak hebrew or Arabic or Russian,, and always there has been a kind soul who helps me, even if in broken English, for which i am very grateful,