[3] According to a 2011 Government Social Survey of Israelis over 20 years of age, 49% report Hebrew as their native language, Arabic 18%, Russian 15%, Yiddish 2%, French 2%, English 2%, Spanish 1.6%, and 10% other languages (including Romanian, and Amharic, which were not offered as answers by the survey).

This confusing situation has led to several appeals to the Supreme Court, whose rulings have enforced the current policies of national and local authorities.

[5] Before the enactment of this Basic Law, the status of official language in Israel was determined by the 82nd paragraph of the Constitution of Mandatory Palestine, which was promulgated by an Order in Council of the British Crown on 14 August 1922, as amended in 1939:[6] All Ordinances, official notices and official forms of the Government and all official notices of local authorities and municipalities in areas to be prescribed by order of the High Commissioner, shall be published in English, Arabic and Hebrew.This law, like most other laws of the British Mandate, was adopted in the State of Israel, subject to certain amendments published by the Provisional State Council on 19 May 1948.

[7]Apart from Hebrew, Arabic and English, the use of Russian dramatically increased with massive arrivals of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

[9] The movement for the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language was particularly popular among new Jewish Zionist immigrants who came to Ottoman ruled Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem beginning in the 1880s.

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (born in the Russian Empire) and his followers created the first Hebrew-speaking schools, newspapers, and other Hebrew-language institutions.

[10] After Ben Yehuda's immigration to Israel, and due to the impetus of the Second Aliyah (1905–1914), Hebrew prevailed as the single official and spoken language of the Jewish community of Mandatory Palestine.

Today, Hebrew is the official language used in government, commerce, court sessions, schools, and universities.

Immigrants who come under the Law of Return are entitled to a free course in an ulpan, or Hebrew language school.

Today, the figure stands at about 1.6 million, and although most are proficient in Hebrew, Arabic remains their primary native language.

Arabic is the native language of older generations of those Mizrahi Jews who immigrated from Arabic-speaking countries.

[15] For many years, the Israeli authorities were reluctant to use Arabic, except when explicitly ordered by law (for example, in warnings on dangerous chemicals), or when addressing the Arabic-speaking population.

[16] Since then, all road signs, food labels, and messages published or posted by the government must also be translated into Literary Arabic, unless being issued by the local authority of an exclusively Hebrew-speaking community.

[citation needed] In 2009, Israel Katz, the transport minister, suggested that signs on all major roads in Israel, East Jerusalem and possibly parts of the West Bank would be amended, replacing English and Arabic place names with straight transliterations of the Hebrew name.

[citation needed] The Transport Ministry said signs would be replaced gradually as necessary due to wear and tear.

[35] At 2004 there were four dailies, 11 weeklies, five monthlies and over 50 local newspapers published in Russian in Israel, with a total circulation of about 250,000 during weekends.

Yiddish saw a decline in its prevalence among the Israeli population in the early statehood of Israel, due to its use being banned in theatres, movies and other cultural activities.

However, despite state-sponsored initiatives for preserving Yiddish culture, the number of Yiddish-speaking Israelis is in decline as older generations of Ashkenazi Jews die.

[13] In 2018, the director of the Israeli Ministry of Education stated that graduates who lacked English proficiency were effectively "handicapped" in today's economy.

Today, English is the primary language for international relations and foreign exchange, but it is not sanctioned for use in Knesset debates or in drafting legislation.

Despite the country's history of British mandatory rule, written English in Israel today uses primarily American spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, and grammar.

Exposure to American culture has been massive in Israel in recent decades, and foreign language television shows are generally presented in the original language with Hebrew subtitles rather than dubbed, which means that there is a high level of exposure to English in the media.

[42][43][44] Most Israelis can converse in and read English on at least a basic level,[citation needed] and secular Israelis who are of a high social and economic status usually possess greater capabilities in English than those who are of a lower social and economic status (this is mostly due to differing levels of state-sponsored education, as well as variation in cultural exposure to the language).

Several Israeli politicians, including David Levy, Amir Peretz, and more recently, Bezalel Smotrich, were mocked openly in the media and in public for their poor English skills.

[citation needed] Due to immigration from English-speaking countries, a small but significant minority of Israeli Jews are native English speakers.

In 1991, a new radio station was erected, called "REKA", which is a Hebrew acronym for "Aliyah Absorption Network".