The website of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, makes a point of greeting its visitors in three languages: Hebrew and Arabic, both of which are official languages in Israel, and English for the benefit of foreigners.
But for a large number of Israeli lawmakers, a third of this site is gibberish.
No, English is not the problem. It’s precisely the Arabic that’s Greek to them.
According to the Knesset website, at least a third of Israel’s cabinet ministers have no knowledge of Arabic at all.
While it may seem trivial, some argue that the lack of Arabic skills among Israeli politicians is one of the greatest impediments to peace.
If you think that is an exaggeration, ask Moshe Shahal, a former member of Knesset for the Labor Party and a former negotiator.
“In my opinion, 50 percent of the Israeli-Arab conflict is a problem of culture and language,” the Iraqi-born Shahal says.
Shahal, who speaks Arabic fluently, cites a past incident to support his premise.
It was 1984. Israel and Egypt had signed a peace agreement five years earlier, but there remained a dispute over who should get Taba, an Egyptian village in the Sinai Peninsula.
Shahal, who was Israel’s energy minister at the time, recalls a conversation he had in Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s house in Egypt.
Mubarak had been surprised to hear Shahal deliver a speech in Arabic at a reception a day earlier.
“Mubarak began by saying, in Arabic, ‘I heard that you spoke Arabic with an Iraqi dialect.’ Ten minutes later he put his hand on my hand – he was sitting on an armchair and I was sitting on the sofa – and he said ‘Listen, you are the first Israeli and the only minister I can speak with as an equal.’”
Shahal was stunned. After all, he was a low-profile cabinet minister, not a head of state.
“I thought, maybe I didn’t understand his Egyptian accent,” Shahal recalls with amusement.
Mubarak soon clarified.
“Every Israeli who comes to talk to us, it’s as though they take us back to the British colonialism era in Egypt,” Mubarak told Shahal. “They speak in English. They’re condescending. They tell us what to do and they don’t understand the language or the culture. But with you I can talk.”
Arabic is taught in Israeli junior high schools but it is not compulsory in the matriculation exams and many Israelis graduate from the school system with no knowledge of the language.
Of course, one could argue that the Israelis are not the only ones who need to make an effort to bridge the language divide.
Sufyan Abu Zeida sits comfortably in a hotel lobby in Jerusalem and chats with familiar acquaintances, gliding effortlessly among English, Hebrew and Arabic.
When he was the Palestinian minister of prisoner affairs, Abu Zeida was frequently interviewed in Hebrew on Israeli radio and television stations. He believes this was not only beneficial to the Palestinian cause, but also for the Israelis viewers and listeners, who got a rare glimpse of the Palestinian point of view, in their own language.
“I think it’s preferable for leaders on both sides to learn the other side’s language,” Abu Zeida says today.
There is no shortage of Israeli Arab-speaking politicians. Ten percent of the Israeli MPs are Arab or Druze and Arabic is their mother tongue. Of the Jewish lawmakers, some were born in Arab countries and speak the language from home. Others acquired Arabic through the intelligence services, as in the case of Israel’s Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter.
Every member of Knesset is allocated an annual budget of NIS 3,200 ($800) to improve their language skills. The Knesset does not monitor how this money is spent and the spokesman could not specify what languages the MPs were choosing to learn. In fact, several MKs contacted by The Media Line had not used this money at all.
On the Palestinian side, many officials speak Hebrew or at least understand it. Before the era of satellite television, the Palestinians were almost dependent on Israeli media outlets for news updates and this improved their language skills. Some acquired the language through working in Israel or during time served in Israeli jails.
“The best colleges the occupation opened for us were the jails,” Abu Zeida says.
Ayman Daragmeh, a Palestinian lawmaker on Hamas’ Change and Reform list, picked up a few words of Hebrew when he was in an Israeli jail, but he would like to understand more.
“I want to learn Hebrew, but the circumstances up until now have not enabled me to do it,” he says. “It’s the language of the occupation and it’s important to learn in order to be able to follow the Israeli media.”
There are plans to open a Hebrew language course at the Palestinian Legislative Council, Daragmeh says, but this has not materialized due to higher priorities.
Daragmeh’s affiliation with an organization that does not recognize Israel poses no problem for him in learning Hebrew.
“There is nothing in our religion or in our language that should prevent us from doing that,” he says.
Abu Zeida thinks it is more important for Israelis to learn Arabic than for Palestinians to learn Hebrew, given that Arabic is designated as an official language in Israel.
Shahal is inclined to agree.
Israel’s neighbors have long been opposed to the idea of a Jewish state on the grounds that Israelis are out of place in this region, Shahal says. He believes the lack of Arabic skills among Israeli decision-makers further alienates them from their neighbors.
But not everyone believes Arabic skills are a necessity.
Efraim Halevy has an extensive career in diplomacy and the security services, including four years as head of the Mossad, Israel’s overseas intelligence agency.
Halevy says he never spoke Arabic, and never felt he was at a disadvantage in his line of work. He does not believe diplomats need to know the language, either.
“It’s more important to know the culture. There are ways of overcoming the language barrier,” he says.
Negotiating With Dictionaries
It’s at the negotiating table where matters of lingo can get complicated.
Historically, the language used in negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians was English. However, talks frequently shifted into Hebrew or Arabic, depending on the language skills of those present at the meeting.
“The most ridiculous thing is that we Jews and Arabs speak similar Semite languages,” Shahal says. “Yet we require English for communication.”
In business negotiations, the etiquette is to hold talks in the language of the host country, says Neil Payne, managing director of Kwintessential, a cross-cultural consultant organization.
But the choice of language during political negotiations is more symbolically loaded.
There is no “rule” on this issue, says Prof. Stephen Weiss, an international negotiations specialist.
It does not have to be an all-or-nothing choice, he explains. Negotiators can change the language depending on the language skills, the location and the circumstances. There is always the option of using a third language, such as English, but this depends on how well-versed the negotiators are in that tongue and the parties will often resort to using interpreters.
“Language is essential for negotiations,” he says. “It’s not just a means of disclosing information; it’s a way of influencing the other side, understanding their views and preferences. There are all types of nuances.”
Jamal Zaqout, a former Palestinian negotiator, says he recalls that while the negotiations during the 1990s were conducted in English, the more informal day-to-day discussions with his Israeli counterparts were often conducted in Hebrew or in Arabic.
The main problem of using Hebrew or Arabic during negotiations is that the choice of language can give one side an upper hand. Neither side wants to be patronized by the other, but it is also important they all understand the nuances.
“My assumption would be there may be some resentment from the other side if everything is done in Hebrew or in Arabic,” Payne says.
Shahal said he did not feel that he was capitulating if he chose to speak with his counterparts in Arabic.
“I don’t see it as one side giving in to the other. Language is a means of communicating. It’s unreasonable that we are all in the heart of the Middle East and the Arabic-speaking world and we don’t know the language.”
Abu Zeida also believes it does not put him in an inferior position if he speaks with his counterparts in Hebrew, rather than in Arabic or in English.
“It’s not a disadvantage. It’s an advantage for both of us. Some Palestinians are narrow-minded and think it’s not good, but most Palestinians appreciate it. They hear me speaking Hebrew fluently with the Israelis and arguing with them. Most of them feel proud they have a Palestinian who can argue with the Israelis.”
Oddly enough, Shahal pointed out a feeling of resentment among Israeli negotiators not towards the Palestinians, but towards their Arabic-speaking colleagues. They can feel left out because they do not understand everything being said.