Pokémon in Israel

Pokémon in Israel
Flag of Israel
Language	Hebrew
Continent	Asia
Original anime airdates
EP001	2000
AG001	2004
DP001	2008
BW001	Never aired
XY001	September 4, 2016
SM001	September 13, 2017
JN001
HZ001

The Pokémon franchise first reached Israel in early 2000, with the first broadcast of אש בוחר את הפוקימון שלו on the Israeli Children Channel.

While all characters, Pokémon, and locations have kept their English names in the Hebrew dub, some objects, moves, and abilities in the franchise received Hebrew-sounding names.

The word Pokémon is written as פוקימון in Hebrew alphabet. In Hebrew, unlike English, a plural form, פוקימונים (Pokémonim) is often used. A female form, פוקימונית (Pokémonit) has also been heard in the anime. Since there is no neutral grammatical gender in Hebrew, Pokémon are always referred to as either male or female, but mostly male.

Pokémon games

Pokémon games are sold in English in Israel. Since April 2019, Tor Gaming is the official distributor of Nintendo products in Israel.^[1] Before that, there was no official Nintendo distributor in Israel and Nintendo games were rarely found in Israel. However, Some stores imported them from other European countries, and they were available around the European launch day, and sometimes earlier.

Pokémon anime

The Children Channel's logo

The Pokémon anime is dubbed in Israel by אולפני נ.ל.ס. The first ten seasons of the anime were broadcast on ערוץ הילדים, beginning in 2000 with the airing of the first episode.

On May 4, 2009, the anime was moved Jetix Israel, starting with the eleventh season. On September 9, 2009, Jetix transitioned into Disney Channel Israel and continued to broadcast the eleventh season along with the twelfth season. In 2011, Disney Channel Israel decided to stop airing the anime in Israel. This effected the thirteenth season which was entirely dubbed, as well as the the thirteenth movie which never released to the public for unknown reasons. the Hebrew dub went on hiatus, making many Israeli fans upset.

Pokémon returned to Israel in 2016. Due to the popularity of Pokémon GO in Israel, Arutz Hayeladim reran the first two seasons from July 3, 2016 to August 31, 2016, with the original Hebrew dub. On September 4, 2016, Arutz Hayeladim started to broadcast the XY series, titled XY :פוקימון - הסדרה, followed by the eighteenth season and the nineteenth season. Since September 13, 2017, Arutz Hayeladim is airing the twentieth season, and since July 2018, the channel is airing the twenty-first season.

In Israel, the anime is also available on Netflix.

Pokémon movies

Mewtwo Strikes Back debuted on Israeli cinemas in May 2000, scoring the biggest movie opening ever in the country at the time.

The last movie to be dubbed in Hebrew and played in theaters was Pokémon 4Ever - Celebi: The Voice of the Forest. Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias, Jirachi: Wish Maker, and Destiny Deoxys were broadcasted in other channels such as the Yes satellite channel Yes 5 in English with Hebrew subtitles. In late 2010, Arceus and the Jewel of Life was broadcast on Disney Channel Israel with Hebrew dub. I Choose You! was the most recent movie to be aired on Arutz Hayeladim on July 1, 2018.

Zoroark: Master of Illusions was dubbed into Hebrew, but was never released to the public due to Disney Channel Israel's decision to stop airing the anime at the time.

Cast and crew

During the first ten seasons of the anime, the series dub was directed by Yafa Gabay, a longtime voice actress who also voiced several minor characters in Pokémon. Starting in 2009, Sharon Borgauker became the director of the dub. Borgauker also dubbed several minor characters, including Conway.

The first five theme songs were performed by singer Uzi Fox, the owner of N.L.S Studios and the producer of the Hebrew dub. Uzi Fox also voiced minor characters on Pokémon, including Professor Birch.

Community

FXP, Israel's largest message board, as a Pokémon sub-forum.

Related articles

• List of Hebrew Pokémon themes

This article is part of Project Globe, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon franchise around the world.