Russian Foreign Ministry Warns its Citizens: Best Behavior in Israel

According to the Israeli news portal YNet, the Russian Foreign Ministry is admonishing its citizens to be on their best behavior when visiting Israel. So explicit is the warning that it specifically tells visitors to the Jewish state not to use words like “putz” or “schmuck,” not to get drunk and not to criticize the state of Israel to Israelis. Why? Because Israelis “are very sensitive about their country.” The warning stressed behavior under the influence of alcohol, specifically stating that visiting Russians who have had too much to drink not “wander around drunk.” The advisory included a warning that Israel is a land of immigrants, so what you think will not be understood by the locals just might be. Within the past several years, Israel also tried to implement a program urging its citizens to behave when visiting other countries. No feedback on that effort has been made available.