With Israel having experienced one of the most extreme heat waves in recent memory, some reject air conditioning, opting instead for natural ways to cope with soaring temperatures.
Maya Hatzir, 34, from Kiryat Tivon, says she avoids AC even in extreme heat. “I don’t feel like sitting in an air-conditioned room. I prefer to go north, enter a stream,” she said. “I usually use a fan. If it’s hot, I take a cold shower and stand in front of the fan.”
While most Israelis seek relief behind closed windows and running air conditioners, Hatzir and others cite environmental concerns and a belief that the body can adapt naturally to heat. “Nature has its wisdom and connection to our bodies,” she said. “When the body is gradually exposed to heat, it develops tools to cope. I am more resilient than people who immediately run to an air-conditioned room.”
Ortal Reizman, 36, from Ramat Gan, also refuses to use AC. “It started around COVID, from an ideological and ecological perspective that says we should manage with the body’s natural abilities,” she said. “It’s not logical to sit indoors all the time with air conditioning.”
Reizman said she experiences discomfort like anyone else but believes sweating is healthy. “I can’t live all day behind closed windows with the AC on. It has physical and mental consequences,” she said. She also criticized building design in Israel, saying overcrowded construction blocks airflow. “If construction were greener and less dense, with proper spacing between buildings, we’d be far less dependent on air conditioning,” Reizman said.
The approach also affects electricity bills. “My friends pay about 1,500 shekels for electricity, while we pay 500 or less. That’s significant,” she said.
Deborah Perlman, a founding member 45 years ago of the ecological settlement Klalil east of Nahariya, lives off the national power grid and does not use an air conditioner. She said avoiding AC is not about immunity to the heat but about reconnecting with the body’s natural temperature regulation.
“People lived for thousands of years without AC. The body has a natural system for heating and cooling, but constant air conditioning makes it lazy, so it relies on external devices,” Perlman said. “We’ve forgotten how to handle extreme heat and cold.”
Perlman shared techniques for staying cool: “After a shower, I don’t dry off; the breeze cools the body. You can also place a cold drink can behind your neck to remind your body how to cool itself naturally.”