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LANGUAGES Official languages There are two official languages in Israel; Hebrew and Arabic . During the 1920s the British Mandate Of Palestine acknowledged Hebrew as an official language alongside Arabic and English. It was the first time in modern times, that the Hebrew language gained such a status. This law of three official languages remained valid in the State of Israel, like many other laws of the British Mandate. One correction was introduced nonetheless - the English language lost its priority over the other two, and in practice it was totally neglected in favor of the Hebrew language. Due to the majority of Jew s in Ottoman Palestine preferring Yiddish over Hebrew - at that time the immigration of Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews to Israel (prior to the mass influx of Mizrahi Jews and Sephardi Jews ) had converted them into the largest ethnic group in the country, and Hebrew being a written language though already used for secular purposes along the 19th century. However, a movement rose around the 1880's to revitalize Hebrew, and rose to a peak when Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and his followers created the first Hebrew speaking schools and other organizations. After his and the impetus of the Second Aliyah (1905-1914), Hebrew prevailed as the single official and spoken language of the Jewish Community of pre-State Israel. When the State of Israel was formed in 1948, the government adopted Hebrew as its prime language as a matter-of-fact decision, and initiated a Melting Pot policy, where every immigrant was required to study Hebrew and often to adopt a Hebrew surname. Yiddish, which was the prime competitor before World War II, was banned, and the number of Yiddish speakers subsided as the older generations died out. Because there were about 150,000 Arab Palestinians left remaining in Israel in 1949, who mostly did not speak Hebrew, a need arose to give the Arabic language a formal status. Arabic is spoken mainly by Israeli Arab s, although some members within the Mizrahi and Yemenite Jewish communities also speak it. It is also taught in most Hebrew language schools. Thus, Hebrew and Arabic remain the only official languages of Israel to this day. Several other languages are officially recognized by the Israeli government. Officially recognized languages Israel has two main officially recognized languages - English and Russian . English has been the official language of Palestine since the British mandate, starting after World War I , and is spoken widely in Israel to this day. It is a required subject in all Israeli public schools and one cannot graduate from High School without having passed it. Russian has only been recognized in the 21st century, due to the large influx of immigrants from the former Soviet Union (''See also:'' Russian Aliyah ). There is an estimated 1 million Russian-speakers in Israel (about 15% of the population). The small Circassian minority speak the Adyghe Language ; the language has a special status in Israel and is used in schools in Isael´s two Circassian villages. Other languages Because Israel is a multi-cultural society, many other languages are known by large sectors of the population. The main ones are as follows:
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