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Jun 17, 2010

how do you say "Palestinian Authority" in Hebrew?

רשות

The word for Authority, as in the Palestinian Authority, is רָשׁוּת (rah-SHOOT). The Palestinian Authority is הָרָשׁוּת הַפַלֶסְטִינִית (hah-fah-less-TEE-neet). I use an f instead of a p because Arabic speakers don't have the p sound - so that when they pronounce this Latin word, Palestine, you'll often hear either Falestine or Balestine.

The plural is רָשׁוּיוֹת (rah-shoo-YOHT), as in, אַל תָּגִידוּ לָרָשׁוּיוֹת (ahl tah-GHEE-doo lah-rah-shoo-YOHT) - don't tell the authorities!

Watch this spoof video (can't see it?) to hear the word in action. Listen and repeat.