Are Israelis becoming like Americans? Are any aspects of Israeli culture likely to be retained? Are there other major cultural influences in Israel? Russian? General modernization influences?
Does Israel exert any cultural influence on the US? Other parts of the world? The Israeli doctors in the third world.
1. Israelis are more informal than Americans. Cars in Tel Aviv are not neatly parked. They are found on the sidewalk and frequently not parked within parking lot lines.
2. Gender relations. There is greater expressiveness perhaps more flirtatiousness. Women smile and talk animatedly with men in what would be seen as flirting in the US but which may in Israel be viewed as greater openness. I have seen men playfully touch women on the nose and cheek in what would be considered sexual harassment in the US. Women touch men but less frequently it seems.
Men refer to other men as handsome. In many parts of the US, this would be considered unmasculine and even hinting on homosexuality. There is homophobia in the US.
3. Planning versus JIT (just in time). Microscopically examining Israel College, there is more of an emphasis on JIT rather than planning ahead. In the US, if a teacher needs AV (audiovisual) equipment they order it in advance so that it will be ready for them. At Israel College, Offer sp? is called with a request, appears very quickly, and quickly gets the equipment set up.
This approach may stem from the military where personnel are taught that a plan is a basis for change. “Don’t be controlled by your plan. Use it to respond to the situation in front of you. Be flexible! Improvise.”
(This lecture is drawn largely from Border Crossings: American Interactions with Israeli’s by Lucy Shahar & David Kurz, Intercultural Press, 1995 and the lecturer’s brief experiences and observations in Israel).
4. Group. Israelis appear to work together in groups much more readily than Americans. In the classes I teach, there is tremendous communication back and forth regarding translations from English to Hebrew and vice versa. There is very high collaboration during tests. Absent classmates enlist other classmates to hand in their homework. The class often tries to sign absent classmates into the roster. Is it fair to state there is loyalty to the group and a concern for the well-being of the group? This behavior may also be a result of the military experience.
5. Responsibility. There is not much respect in Israel for individuals who wish to remain above the fray. In the “Rosemary Parable” Fred, who says, “Rosemary, I can understand how difficult this is for you but I’m sorry I can’t help you” was not identified with in any of my classes. He was derided as an “egoist”; someone who only cares about themselves. The other day, when I tripped and fell while running on the beach in Tel Aviv, several people looked over and asked if I was OK. I am very certain there would be many fewer expressions, if any, of concern is a similarly large city in the US. Americans have a very strong belief in independence and privacy. An American runner tripping and falling may not even desire the expression of concern for their well-being because this would show a lack of independence!
6. Fast-forward. “Yalla” and “nu” are expressions meaning “let’s go”! At times, students in class press forward with rapid fire questions. There is no waiting in line, unless the American professor is present! J, at the student snack bar. Everyone presses forward to be served first. Why wait in line? Someone could get served before you. The prompt service belongs to those who can wriggle their way to the front of the line; a meritocracy for service that is not based on time. The justification is “you were just waiting there”! (i.e. so I pushed ahead of you and that’s OK)
7. Sandpaper. Israeli communication style is more direct than American. It is not uncommon to hear “You are wrong” as opposed to the American style of “Excuse me, I have a problem with what you’ve said.” The latter statement in Israel may be taken as hypocritical, artificial, and insincere. In Israel it is assumed you can “take it and dish it out.”
8. Customer Service. When I asked at the bank what the various charges were for changing money, the teller looked at me and said, “Never mind. That’s for me and none of your concern.” However, it was my money I was asking about!
At the supermarket, it took fifteen minutes to check out and there were only two customers ahead of me buying only a few items in a small (by US standards) shopping cart. The cashier did not say “thank you. Have a good day”, and establish eye contact as would be the case, however mechanically and without feeling J,
in the US. This is not true in some of the Israeli grocery stores and a hardware store I frequent where US standards of customer service are evident.
As I waited for my credit card receipt (to sign it and have a receipt) the coffee barman “rudely” laughed and said, “What are you waiting for? You’re dismissed…I’ll sign it for you”! This is “rude” because as a service provider he is being overly familiar with me and not maintaining the “proper” distance in service provider-customer relations.
Apparently, “The customer is not always right” and deferred to in Israel!
Perhaps “putting on a happy face” (a “work face”) is not an expectation in Israel. The “happy face” may be reserved for friends and people you know. The premium in the US is on “treating everyone the same.”
Israelis may sell service less (the polite attitude) than Americans.
What may matter more is getting the job done.
9. Student-teacher, friendship, and hospitality. Israeli students interact slightly more with their American college teacher than American students. While concern over grades and a certain “exotic” factor may be partially responsible, part of the explanation may lie with the classroom job or task not being the entire story. There seems to be greater interest in the teacher as a human being versus just being someone who fills your head with a lot of facts, figures, and theories though Israeli students are also interested in the knowledge. In the US, some American students have absolutely no interest in knowing the teacher and are in the classroom exclusively to gain some knowledge in the subject area and as part of the progression toward getting their degree.
Distinguish between American friendliness as a courtesy and friendliness as an attempt to initiate a relationship. “Let’s do lunch.” “How are you”? “Maybe I can get tickets to the game.” There is an American “social dance.” The American smile is mostly courtesy; an artifice. Everyone gets one and thus, in a sense, it loses value. The Israeli smile may be more of a genuine response to a specific person or situation.
A thought: Because US society is so mobile and the US is such a large nation, Americans may have developed strategies for making small talk with strangers (the weather, sports). Whereas in Israel, it is likely that there is often some connection between people (mutual acquaintances, for example) although with the influx of immigrants this is probably changing.
It is rare that US students treat their teachers. Conceptions of hospitality in Israel differ markedly from the US…I can only go by some of the stories my Israeli students have told me the gist of which is Americans, to a much greater extent, do not make available their homes to foreign visitors. There are exceptions especially if the American learns about Israeli standards and expectations.
10. Trust. The Israeli view of trust tends toward not trusting someone until it is proven otherwise. The US view tends to be the opposite. This relates to the concept of “freier”.
No Israeli (or American) wants to be a “freier” (sucker). A freier may be someone who too readily takes “no” for an answer, who comes out on the wrong end of a business deal, or believes that the first price cannot be negotiated. BTW, most of the rest of the world shares this Israeli cynical view of the world J…Americans seem to be an exception. There is no pity for the freier only blame…it’s their fault for being so weak. Of course, there is always tomorrow…you’re not condemned for life to “freierdom” for life.
10.Space and touching. In general, Israelis stand closer and touch more. To some extent, lack of physical (and emotional) distance, egalitarianism, and informality may stem from the pioneer experience of establishing Israel and a desire to create a new, egalitarian social order.
This may be apparent in the workplace where employees may challenge ideas and suggest modifications to an extent unheard of in the US where the boss is treated more deferentially (“kid gloves”). Questioning ideas and assumptions is viewed positively in Israel. Israel ranked next to the bottom (Austria was lowest) in Hofsted’s study of power-distance. Israeli communication “air space” is much shorter.
Israeli communication style is direct, spontaneous, and quite often confrontational. And, the discussions may be more in public rather than privately as in the US. Improvisation may frequently be employed. So, there are different conceptions of “professionalism” between the US and Israel.
11.Self-confidence. Americans are taught to combine willingness to express ones views with a certain amount of modesty. There is a strong, silent type in US culture; if you are really self-confident you don’t need to always prove yourself.
In the US, you tend not to just speak up in a meeting. First, you address the chair, you acknowledge the previous statement or address, you preface criticism first with praise (so no one takes it personally as an attack on their person rather than their ideas), and only then do you say your piece (generally softened remarks).
Americans may describe Israeli work behavior in terms of “initiative”, “creative”, “active”, “improvisational”, “persistent” or conversely as “intrusive”, “aggressive”, “out of line”, “invasive”, “insubordinate”, and “pushy.”
How easy is it for Americans and Israelis to adapt to the other group’s different set of norms and expectations? What is the price both sides pay? How easy is it to modify decades of social conditioning?
What are the chances an American manager will accept arguments and questioning by their staff in public in the presence of outsiders? Can an American’s “stop, look, and listen” style dampen enthusiasm, diminish creativity, and foster resistance?
Can an American working for an Israeli take more of a “take charge” attitude and not ask but do what should be done?
Advice: When working in multicultural teams, pay attention to process (how things are done), and not just the bottom line. Otherwise, you will have many communication breakdowns, stress and mistrust leading to lack of productivity.
12.Negotiations. A US “no” is more likely to be unequivocal whereas for Israelis it may have more of a “starting tough in negotiations” flavor. Thus, Americans after saying no may perceive Israelis’ insistence as pursuing a closed matter. Americans may view the Israeli no as the end of the matter.
Differing conceptions of hierarchy may mean that an Israeli will turn to an American lower level person and ask them what they think of their American manager’s proposal. If Israeli subordinates contradict their manager, Americans may view this as the Israeli manager lacking authority.
Any discussion of negotiations should focus on whether the parties are approaching from a win-win or win-lose perspective.
13.Confrontation. To a greater extent than Americans, Israelis see argument and confrontation as enjoyable, something to be welcomed rather than avoided. They are ways of “keeping in shape”—sparring, arguing, testing, taking a stand, working things out. Thought: Is it the same as the French who don’t take it seriously (personally)? BTW, Americans may view the arguments as being out of control…as people being angry.
14. Favors. There may be less of a concern about asking for favors among Israeli friends than US friends. Conceptions of self-sufficiency may be different.