Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
technology. Given the need to modernize an ancient language, however, this borrowing does
not disturb cultural or national sensitivities.
The same point applies to consumer choices. American businesses have proliferated, in-
cluding McDonald's, Home Depot, and other such stores. The fi rst Gap franchise opened in
summer 2009 and sold much of its merchandise within the fi rst few days. American television
shows, music, and fashion have also entered the country and won audiences and customers.
Yet all of these infl uences go through an Israeli fi lter. Commonly, the imported ideas, prod-
ucts, and services that initially attract customers quickly fade away once the Israeli taste for
novelty is sated. Starbuck's cafés failed because Israelis have very decided tastes in coffee that
do not include weaker or fl avored varieties. Even more commonly, the new import is inter-
preted in an Israeli way. Many McDonald's franchises in Israel are kosher, for example, and
Jerusalem's upscale mall is built out of Jerusalem stone and connects the modern downtown
area with the historical Old City.
Much of the copying is also superfi cial. Israeli chain stores give themselves American-style
names, for example. Israel now has its own version of Best Buy. Restaurants like to name them-
selves after popular American trends, so Jerusalem now boasts a pizza place called American Pie
Pizza and another called Pizza Obama. American reality shows are very popular in Israel, but
by the time
Survivor
,
The Amazing Race
, or
American Idol
is made in a local version with Israeli
contestants, it is transmuted into something remarkably different and quintessentially Israeli.
Another key reason why Israeli social identity does not erode under the American infl u-
ences is that there are so many diverse foreign infl uences, and most are adapted to Israeli pref-
erences. Just as there are American infl uences, there are also considerable European, Russian,
and Mediterranean infl uences. The easing of trade regulations with the European Union, for
example, has brought an infl ux of products from those countries.
The scope and implications of infl uences coming from the Russian immigrants is not yet
clear. There is defi nitely a push toward secularism in social terms and conservatism in political
terms. Immigrants hailing from the big cities in the former Soviet Union consider themselves
highly cultured, like the German-speaking immigrants who arrived in the 1930s and 1940s. To
what extent their sophistication will revitalize and alter the country's intellectual life remains a
question. On the contrary, the immigrants may themselves adapt to Israeli norms. In the short
term, however, there is some upsurge in the quality of cultural life.
Another infl uence on Israeli life, especially in the cultural center of Tel Aviv, is Mediterra-
nean. Israel does have a great deal in common with southern Europe — a warm climate and an
informal, passionate social atmosphere. Mediterranean food and music meet with a positive
reception.
Israel both does and does not suffer from an inferiority complex, which partly explains the
debate over foreign infl uences and the mixed and unpredictable response to them. On one
hand, the country is young, small in size and population, and committed to using a language
that has little international importance, which supports a self-image as a vibrant, creative,
courageous country.
Yet a portion of the elite — especially artists and many intellectuals — see Israel as provin-
cial, idealize the United States or Europe, wish to escape the country's semi-pariah political sta-
