Just like any country with an official language other than English, I would expect them to have bookstores full of Hebrew books, with a small section of English books that you've probably already read.
The parent commenter even explicitly mentions "amongst English and French speakers living here".
any half decent bookstore will just order the books for you and you'll get them a few days later. It's how I buy most of my English books in a non-English speaking country. Added benefit, weans yourself off the 'i have to have it now' shopping culture
That's how I used to get sheet music. It's a little pricier but I could trust the owner find an edition I would enjoy. They closed down a few years ago, and there's no nearby alternative.
This is the way. Did people forget you could do this, with the advent of online sales? It costs nothing more, it helps the store stay open, and it's one less sale for Amazon.
Indeed - and I purchase all of my Hebrew books and magazines there. If we're lucky the chains will bring in ~50 English books per quarter, and eventually sell them all off. These 50 books are usually ~5 Harry Potter, ~10 kid fantasy, and a random smattering of other things. They will not special order.
I can actually order a book on Amazon, to a drop shipper in the US, DHS it to Israel for less than the price of special ordering the book here, via צומת ספרים, assuming they even want to allow the special order.
Suffice it to say people don't try. There are two English book stores in the country (and a French one) that will go out of their way to work with you. They run into the geographic frustrations put in place by publishers. It's a mess.
You cannot compare the ability to purchase over a million books online to the selection at a bookstore. Plus my personal preference is reading books on my phone, not as an actual book.
