Hebroobs

It's not just the pictures that will have the native tongues wagging - Israelis can now read Playboy in a Hebrew language edition.

Playboy has been widely available in Israel for years, but this is the first local edition, which features Israeli models and articles by Israeli writers.  The Israeli edition of Penthouse (the magazine's natural adversary) flopped when it debuted here in 1989. Owner and publisher Daniel Pomerantz said he got the idea for the Hebrew Playboy while working as a lawyer in Chicago, former home to the magazine's headquarters.  As he became friends with Playboy lawyers, he was also making visits to Israel, and noticed they did not have a Hebrew edition.

The success of the magazine remains to be seen where Jews, Christians, and Muslims live by strict modesty rules. And besides competition from internet pron and other sexy publications, they'll have to contend with zealots that have frequently burned down bus stops with ads of fully dressed women (which prompted major advertisers not to use female models regardless of how modestly they are covered up). But hey, at least now there will be Hebrew honeys in the local language.