Get over it. Israel is not Europe, and it's not Britain. It has its own seasons, going back to the Biblical "yoreh u'malkosh", its early and late rains. Those rains are what, together with human initiative and hard work, have greened what was for centuries a wilderness.

to call such a weather "winter" :))) We would call it spring or autumn.

Especially, around Christmas, when snow covers our mountain tops.

than you raanan for this refreshing (meraanen) article...may it wash and clean our bad and ugly politics and replace it with an optimistic future...thank you again !

to become another. That is not to say that Europe does not have much to be proud of lately.

it seemes like the teares it washes the soul as it rains from the eye

I wish we could visit Lebanon one day, it must be gorgeous!

The only problem Israelis really have it's their envy. Let's enjoy our own country! How long have we longed for it through pogroms, concentration camps and other "pleasant" experiences in exile. Nobody really wants or deserves us here. Don't like something in Israel - change it for better!!! I am coming next year back to help. Envying you for being in Israel:)

Its nice and cool, :o) HO HO HO

If you lived in the UK as an example or France or Germany etc the last thing you would be wanting was Rain. You would be looking out over grey streets with grey peoples running to avoid the next down pour and what do you wish for - SUN lovely hot SUN lots of it everyday The writer of this article expresses that eternal desire to be in the fields over yonder which look so much greener than ours. I can assure the writer that after 45 years of English summers and English winters where the only difference was the rain in the summer was warmer than the in the winter that there is no place like home Fred

Nice article and I have loved visiting Israel in winter. The skies are clear, the symphony is playing, the place is local and kick back. Love it. Thx fr this

is no different then every Middle-Easterner thinking America's streets are lined with gold. There is nothing desirable about Europe over Israel's mild seasons or anything for that matter, except what is in a confused imagination.

chill factor.......and you are talking about rain???? I just wish it would rain ...and rain...and rain. As long as it doesn't freeze. The suns coming up at 10 am...and setting at 4 in the afternoon. Next month it will be coming up at 11 am and setting at 3 in the afternoon. I just wish we had some Israeli weather for a change......you are very lucky. The summers and fishing are great though. Four hours of mild darkness on June 21st.

Wheres the snow? wheres the sleet? wheres the bowling ball sized hailstones?

i agree and feel what the author is writing here. i lived there 12 years and i remember how fresh the air was aftera good rain.

makes me want to come back and have some kanoffa and some bitter coffee. thank you for the article

Madness !

It's nice to sometimes forget about politics and just talk about something else :) Refreshing.

Please do not claim to speak for Israelis. G-d commanded us to be apart from the nations for good reason. Euroamerica is no model of society, or collection of models. The sickness, of thankfully fewer and fewer of us, to believe that everything is better in Euroamerica is destructive. Anyway, I live in Galilee, and here we have a nice spring, with cool mornings and warmish days. And do you forget that your precious USA is 1/3 desert, and much of it has a long, hot summer, and much has little or no snow? Are you ashamed to be Israeli so much that you have pretend to be Euroamerican based on trivial, fictional notions? Do you even know your own country?

during my many years in Israel, I always noticed that for all my colleagues' declarations of love and appreciation of the season, moods darkened on the rare occasions of two consecutive days without sun. Let three pass, and petty quarrels broke out everywhere. Yes, the days of lower temperatures and showers were welcomed - but not for long! It's the reverse here. Poles collectively love summer. Yet if two days of 27+ temperatures occur, you wouldn't believe the kvetching and frenzied mopping of brows!

sam,e as summer in england not spring,

FYI Mr. shaked, we in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria have the same winter. and if you miss the west so much, why the hell don't go back there and enjoy the real winter ?! we in this region love our seasons as it. for us "the indigenous people" the winter here is the winter, the spring is the spring and the summer is the summer.

of urine from the streets and alleys, giving us a chance to breath FRESH CLEAN AIR. This habit is really a problem in Israel. I don't think the French, Brits or Americans do it. And stopping this would be a REAL way to show we are becoming more civilized.

Endless gloomy grey weather, that lasts for most of the year brings depression. That's why, for example, Seattle has least sunny days in the year, but highest suicide rate in US. I prefer the sunny Mediterranean climate, like in Israel, Greece or south Italy. 3 months of rainy weather is just enough to be enjoyable, in february I already start missing the sun, flip-flops and shorts.

Israel society is too obsessed with politics. Not everyone, who made aliya from European countries run from Holocost. There are more than 1000000 people, who came to Israel in late 80's and after, who run from destroyed Soviet countries. And doesn't matter how long we lived in Israel, we are still are more European's, than we Mediterians and we still remember our "normal' life on SSSR. THis article is nice and poetic. I live in Israel almost for 20 years now, but I still rememer with nostalgy our autumn, with big beautifull orange and yelow leeves. I didn't like coled at all, but I still remember the snow on New Year and the kids, who play in the snow. So yes, many of us are European and Europe have many good things, beside political and religiouse hatred. People should lay off on politics and their life would be much easier.

I'm a Jew who was ethnically cleansed from Syria along with 900,000 other Jews kicked out of Arab countries. Are we less indigenous than you?

Salma, the first time here that I can agree with you! Let's not envy European winters. Winter in Israel is delightful, especially by the sea. Who needs the endless grey of an English spring, summer, autumn, winter? Even after a downpour, the sun comes out in Israel and it's fun to watch the steam rising out of the puddles and the sun's reflection in the flooded streets!

Israeli summer is what is known as "winter" in Brazil =) Don't you complain about the weather in there! It can always be worse....