Israel: Conversation

From ExecutivePlanet.com

Conversation

Israelis love to talk about traveling, cuisine, the arts, technology, sports and shopping. They appreciate hearing about a guest’s home country, his/her family and the attributes of his or her lifestyle.

Israelis are avid conversationalists, are flexible, non-structured and non-biased regarding content and cherish opportunities to connect with foreigners.

The most valuable rule of thumb on conversing with Israelis is: Tailor conversational content according to the degree of familiarity with the host.

Geopolitics and religion can be discussed if a guest’s outlook and demeanor are non-critical and non-argumentative. Israeli and Jewish history is fraught with traumatic events so any discussions in those areas should be well researched, sensitive, and more than anything else, compassionate and understanding.

Israelis will tend to mix business with pleasure, especially if they are entertaining business guests in non-business venues.

Measured, well placed compliments are always appreciated by Israelis.