Jerusalem - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the typical dress code at work and in public places? Is formal dress ever required?
Israeli dress is very informal. We once saw someone at the MFA wearing flip-flops. You could wear a plain t-shirt and jeans to a Jewish wedding, but if it's a religious wedding, nicer dress is required and skirts covering the knees and shirts up to the elbow are necessary. At work, while you can't wear shorts or flip-flops, you can wear casual pants/skirt and a nice shirt. Ties are for meeting the Prime Minister or President or attending a court hearing or if you yourself get married. Palestinian dress is a bit more formal. The only time you'll need formal dress is at the Marine Ball or at an Arab wedding (in Israel or in the West Bank). - Nov 2022
Formal dress is rarely required, the mission tends to be very business casual internally with suits and ties for high level outside meetings. - Oct 2019
Casual at work. Very casual in town but modest coverage for everyone in Jerusalem. You can wear jeans, t-shirts and sandals every day, to job interviews and to fine dinning restaurants. Tourists wear whatever they want. - Aug 2018
Very casual. At work, the casual end of business casual. In public jeans, sneakers, tees are all acceptable everywhere. Jerusalem is a very religious place. Orthodox Jewish women cover knees, elbows, collarbones, and never wear pants. Muslim women frequently cover their heads and are about evenly split between wearing long dresses and tunics with tight pants. As someone who looks Jewish living in East Jerusalem, I prefer to wear pants to differentiate myself from settlers. You don't have to dress particularly modestly, but super short shorts or mini skirts and spaghetti straps are definitely out of the ordinary for local sensibilities. Shorts for men are also unusual for locals in Jerusalem. That being said, tourists wear anything, and there are lots of tourists. - Apr 2018
Work attire is same as at most posts, depends on your job. Most wear business attire. For public areas, almost anything goes because there are so many tourists here. Certain pockets in the city require extra caution in regard to what females wear (the ultra-orthodox Jewish neighborhoods, or very conservative Muslim areas). But no matter how you dress, there will always be a tourist wearing something worse/better. - Dec 2016
Israelis are very relaxed at work and almost never wear ties. Nearly all of the diplomatic missions in Jerusalem function as the diplomatic representatives of their respective governments to the Palestinians. As such, it's best to conform to Palestinian dress norms, which are more formal (suite and tie for meetings) - Aug 2015
Israelis are quite casual. Decent pants and a button up shirt are fine for most meetings. I started off wearing suits, and quickly learned to dress more casually so I wouldn't stand out. - Aug 2015
Normal dress for public. - May 2015
Business Attire at work. In public, Israelis tend to dress very casual even to more formal events such as weddings and Bar Mitvahs. - Mar 2014
Pretty casual. People here are stuck in the 80s. - Aug 2013
Israelis are generally informal and rarely wear suits and ties. Most people in Jerusalem dress relatively conservatively, although some do as they wish. I recommend wearing "modest" clothes if you decide to go to a religious Jewish neighborhood or wander through East Jerusalem. - Jul 2013
No shorts or miniskirts in Jerusalem. In Tel Aviv, it is much more like in the States. - Feb 2009
