Israeli lawmakers have drafted a Bill designed to make English translations of Israeli road signs more comprehensible and consistent, the Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday.
Motorists driving on the road to the Sea of Galilee have thus far at various stages of their journey come across signs reading ”Sea of Galilay” or ”Yam Kineret”, a literal transliteration of the lake’s Hebrew name.
Signs pointing the way to an ancient Roman resort that today is a small, luxury villa town north of Tel Aviv at times read ”Caesaria”, as spelled in Latin, or ”Queysaria”, a somewhat awkward and cumbersome attempt to spell the name as it is pronounced in Hebrew.
Another example of a possibly confusing sign for tourists and English-speakers is a sign to a railway station in Tel Aviv, which simply reads ”Rakevet”, the Hebrew word for train in Roman letters.
Signs to the beach also often say ”hof”, again the Hebrew word rather than its English translation.
Legislator Amnon Cohen of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, who initiated the Bill, called the lack of uniformity ”embarrassing” and ”disgraceful” to the nation’s image. — Sapa-DPA