A myriad of other languages including French, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese and Amharit are widely spoken or heard on the streets of Israel. Religion Israel's mandate guarantees total freedom of religion and free access to holy places of worship for followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Each religion has autonomy over its holy places and houses of worship, and establishes the hours and rules of conduct for visiting them. Visitors are expected to demonstrate respect and dress modestly at religious sites. Special events in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv hotels should therefore, not be planned for Friday evenings or Saturday during the day.
Hotels continue to function normally and all non-kosher restaurants remain open throughout.
Some sites are closed on Friday afternoon and Saturday. Restrictions on the rental and use of conference equipment apply on the Sabbath and on and Jewish holidays. Similarly, Moslem sites are closed on Friday, the Moslem Sabbath, and Christian sites on Sunday. There are a number of genuinely good buys to be made in Israel, where trade and tariff agreements with many countries eliminate customs duties. An advanced telecommunications infrastructure permits convenient and easily accessible international telephone communications.