Road signs in Israel

Israeli trilingual road signs

Road signs in Israel are decided by the Ministry of Transportation in the Division of Transportation Planning, most recently set forth in June 2011.

They generally use the same pattern of colors, shapes, and symbols as set out in the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, used also in most countries of Europe and the Middle East.

Language

Signs employ three scripts – Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin – and are written in Hebrew and Arabic, the two official languages of the country, and in English.

The stop sign, however, instead of displaying words in three languages, or even just in English as required by the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, conveys its meaning through the depiction of a raised hand.

Font

Israeli road sign regulations provide for the following fonts to be used: Tamrurim for Hebrew script, Medina for Arabic script, and Triumvirat (a Helvetica derivative) for Latin script as well as numbers. However, these rules are not consistently followed; some signs use Highway Gothic (used for all road signs in the United States) for the Latin script.

Signs giving warnings

Signs warning of hazardous conditions or dangerous situations (e.g. "Intersection" or "Steep incline ahead" bear a black-on-white symbol inside a red-bordered triangle (point uppermost).

• Signs giving warnings
• 
  Rough road
• 
  Sharp right curve
• 
  Sharp left curve
• 
  Curve right and then left
• 
  Curve left and then right
• 
  Winding road ahead
• 
  Barriers
• 
  Barriers
• 
  Road narrows ahead
• 
  Road narrows from right ahead
• 
  Road narrows from left ahead
• 
  Barriers
• 
  Barriers
• 
  Barriers
• 
  Intersection ahead
• 
  Side road on the right ahead
• 
  Side road on the left ahead
• 
  T-intersection
• 
  Barriers
• 
  Staggered crossroads
• 
  Staggered crossroads
• 
  Roundabout ahead
• 
  Traffic signal ahead
• 
  Minor road merging from the right
• 
  Minor road merging from the left
• 
  Merge with major road from the right
• 
  Merge with major road from the left
• 
  Possible traffic congestion
• 
  Traffic congestion ahead
• 
  Tram crossing ahead
• 
  Railroad crossing ahead
• 
  Pedestrian crosswalk
• 
  Pedestrians nearby
• 
  Bicycle traffic crossing
• 
  Stop sign ahead
• 
  Dangerous descent
• 
  Danger of skidding
• 
  Rock slide zone
• 
  Rock slide zone
• 
  Speed breaker
• 
  Two-way traffic
• 
  Camel
• 
  Farm vehicles crossing
• 
  Children or School crosswalk
• 
  Road works
• 
  End road works

Signs giving orders

With the exception of the special shapes used for "Stop" and "Yield" signs (respectively, an octagon and a downward-pointing triangle), signs giving orders are circular and are of two kinds:

• Mandatory signs (e.g. "Turn right only") bear a white symbol on a blue disk.
• Prohibitory signs (e.g. "No left turn") take the form of a black-on-white symbol inside a red-bordered circle, sometimes with the addition of a red slash through the symbol.

• Mandatory signs
• 
  Go straight or right
• 
  Go straight or left
• 
  Go straight
• 
  Go right before sign
• 
  Go left before sign
• 
  Turn right after sign
• 
  Turn left after sign
• 
  Go right or left
• 
  Go straight or make right U-Turn
• 
  Go straight or make left U-Turn
• 
  Compulsory right U-Turn
• 
  Compulsory left U-Turn
• 
  Pass designated place on right or left
• 
  Pass designated place on right
• 
  Pass designated place on left
• 
  Entry to freeway
• 
  End to freeway
• 
  Road only for mechanical transport vehicles that can achieve speeds of more than 55 km/h
• 
  Road for mechanical transport only
• 
  Start of traffic calming area
• 
  End of traffic calming area
• 
  Traffic recession area
• 
  The edge of a traffic recession area
• 
  One-way lane for bicycle traffic
• 
  The end of the bike path
• 
  Pedestrian path only
• 
  Bicycle path only
• 
  Pedestrian and bicycle path only
• 
  Separate path for pedestrians only, and a separate path for bicycle traffic
• 
  Road or toll road.
• 
  Road end or toll lane.

• Signs giving orders
• 
  Give Way
• 
  Stop
• 
  Roundabout
• 
  Stop manual control
• 
  Go manual control
• 
  Yield to oncoming traffic
• 
  Priority over oncoming traffic
• 
  Priority road
• 
  End of priority road
• 
  Closed to all vehicles
• 
  No entry
• 
  Barriers
• 
  Barriers
• 
  Cars and Motorbikes prohibition
• 
  No trucks weighing over 10 tonnes
• 
  Vehicles transporting hazardous materials are prohibited
• 
  Cars prohibiton
• 
  Motorbikes prohibiton
• 
  Tractors and work vehicles prohibition
• 
  Animals prohibiton
• 
  Bicycles prohibiton
• 
  Pedestrians prohibiton
• 
  Pedestrians, Bicycles, Work transport, and Animals prohibiton
• 
  No vehicles weighing over 6 tonnes
• 
  No vehicles higher than 4.6 meters
• 
  No vehicles wider than 2.1 meters
• 
  Region not allowed Driving lessons
• 
  End of region not allowed Driving lessons
• 
  Overtaking is prohibited for small vehicles.
• 
  End of no overtaking
• 
  Overtaking is prohibited for large vehicles.
• 
  End of no overtaking
• 
  Urban area
• 
  End of urban area
• 
  Speed limit (50 km/h)
• 
  Speed limit (50 km/h)
• 
  End of Speed limit (50 km/h)
• 
  No right turn ahead
• 
  No left turn ahead
• 
  No U-turns
• 
  No U-turns
• 
  Parking prohibiton
• 
  Parking and stopping prohibition
• 
  End of Parking prohibition
• 
  Parking of trucks weighing over 10,000 kg prohibited
• 
  End of Parking prohibition of trucks weighing over 10,000 kg
• 
  Customs

Signs giving information

Signs giving information are generally rectangular (sometimes pointed at one end in the case of direction signage).

Highways in Israel are classified as:

• National (single-digit number)
• Inter-city (two digits)
• Regional (three digits)
• Local (four digits)

Route-marker signs are also color-coded:

• Freeways (Blue)
• Expressways (Red)
• Regional routes (Green)
• Local roads (Black, formerly Brown)

Most directional signs to towns and cities are:

• white-on-blue (freeways)
• white-on-green (other main roads)
• black-on-white (local destinations)
• white-on-brown (tourist destinations: landmarks, historical sites, nature reserves, etc.).

The sign for permitted parking features a white-on-blue "P" for "parking" enclosed by the Hebrew letter Het ("ח") for "hanaya" (Template:Lang-he), which also means "parking").

The sign informing users that they are on a priority road is a white-edged yellow "diamond" (i.e. a square turned through 45°).

• Information signs
• 
  National Freeway (1 digit)
• 
  National Freeway which is also an Inter-City Expressway (1 digit)
• 
  National Inter-City Expressway (1 digit)
• 
  Inter-City Expressway (2 digits)
• 
  National Expressway (2 digit)
• 
  Regional roads (3 digits)
• 
  Local roads (4 digits)
• 
  Freeway sign
• 
  Major road sign
• 
  Local destination sign
• 
  Tourist destination sign
• 
  Street sign
• 
  Entry to toll
• 
  Parking (sign can be two-sided)
• 
  Handicapped parking
• 
  Pedestrian crosswalk
• 
  Exit sign
• 
  One-way traffic
• 
  Border sign
• 
  No through road
• 
  No through road on right
• 
  No through road on left
• 
  Tunnel
• 
  End of tunnel