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How the Americanization affact the israeli food culture Archives American Fast Food In Israel: The Bagel By SERGE SCHMEMANN Published: March 09, 1997 FOR those who bemoan the Americanization of the world, the insult that caps the injury is that even the ethnic foods that make it in the global village usually get there via America. Take pizza, or tacos, or sushi, or even French fries. For better or for worse, these were known only in their own quaint corner of the Earth, often in far different guises, until they were adopted, glossed-up and disseminated .throughout the universe by the U. S. of A .More proof? Take the bagel Here's the epitome of Jewish food, right up there with knishes and latkes, right? Yet until not very long ago the closest thing to one in the Jewish state was either a rock-hard biscuit ring called a ''beygl'' (the original Yiddish name), or a large, soft and sweet Arabic loaf. Visitors from New York were expected to pack a few dozen of the real thing, along with Pampers and other essentials that were not yet available .here Before we brought them over, all they had here were rolls with'' holes,'' said Reuven Kahane, a 29-year-old immigrant from New York who, with another former American, Ari Dubin, and David Cohen, who is from Britain, introduced the American bagel -- the soft-crusted ring of firm dough -- to Jerusalem. ''Until a few years ago, Israeli foods were largely Middle Eastern -- falafel, that kind of thing,'' Mr. Kahane said. ''They'd had bagels in Europe, but this is a food that really grew ''.up on the Lower East Side of New York The arrival of their ''Bonkers Bagels'' in Israel coincided with the emergence of the bagel onto America's national scene. Americans, turning away from deep-fried foods like doughnuts, had discovered a relatively low-fat sandwich base in the loop of boiled-and-toasted bread long popular mainly among New Yorkers. At just about this time, the first wave of American fast food chains hit Israel's shores,

soon flooding the country with McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, .Domino's Pizza, Ben & Jerry's and the like So it came to pass that just as the bagel made it in America as a .Jewish food, it arrived in the Jewish state as an American food Though Mr. Kahane proudly notes that everything about his bagel is ''made in Israel,'' the decor at the original Bonkers Bagels outlet on Jerusalem's crowded Zion Square is distinctly New York. The sign is in English only, and, according to a saleswoman, three-quarters of the customers order in English and the rest ''come here to practice ''.American To be sure, Bonkers is not the first nor the only bagel outlet in Israel. But with more than 13,000 bagels sold daily, plus a wholesale business that supplies hotels and supermarkets, it's by far the biggest. When President Clinton was in town last year, his hotel turned to Bonkers for his breakfast staple, the cinnamon-raisin bagel. (It was also Bonkers that supplied Secretary of State Warren Christopher's carrot muffins.) Mr. Kahane said the company hopes to open 50 franchises and sell between 40,000 and 50,000 bagels a .day But with anything so successful, a challenge can't be far behind. And it's coming from the jilted doughnut. Just up the block from Bonkers, .Dunkin' Donuts is readying its Jerusalem beachhead The challenge is formidable. Reared on falafel, Israelis are not easily scared by deep-fried food. Dunkin' Donuts' first Israeli outlet, in Tel Aviv, has broken the chain's world record for sales since opening in .August, selling some 3 million doughnuts Israelis do not stop eating doughnuts,'' said Asa Reshef, manager of'' operations in Tel Aviv. ''They buy such quantities, quantities that we would never have believed they would buy. They buy boxes of 12, eat ''.them here, and then buy more boxes to take home Worse for Bonkers, Dunkin' Donuts has gone into bagels, selling H&H bagels imported frozen from New York. Gary Heller, a Brooklyn native who imports them, insists that these taste far better than the

.local products, a claim Mr. Kahane equally fervently rejects They had both better be good, because the world of American fast food is a ruthless battlefield. Dunkin' Donuts is said to be looking to ?add its own bagel here before long. Can Lender's be far behind