RAMAT GAN, Israel -- With Arab-Israeli reconciliation in the air, McDonald's helped herald the normalization of the region Wednesday with the first set of golden arches in the Middle East.
Red and yellow McDonald's flags at the upscale Canyon mall outfluttered Israeli flags on the day before the grand opening of a 450 seat branch of the McDonald's fast food chain, which has more than 13, 000 restaurants in 67 countries.
Crowds of curious Israelis stood outside the McDonald's entrance as local dignitaries got a VIP tour of the flagship of the Israeli chain. They were anxious to get a taste of a 7.70 shekel ($2.75) Big Mac which violates Jewish dietary laws because it comes with meat and cheese together. Cheeseburgers were virtually unavailable in Israel until now.
However since a survey showed McDonald's marketing experts that 80 percent of Israelis would prefer to eat kosher beef despite the cheese, veteran franchiser Omri Padan is opening the first McDonald's to serve kosher meat.
'The meat is kosher to fit Israeli tastes,' said Padan, who is responsible for bringing big name brands like Benetton and Levis to Israel.
'We have milk here and will be open on Saturdays (the Jewsish sabbath), so it won't be considered kosher,' Padan said.
'So what if 20 percent of Israelis won't walk into a non-kosher restaurant, the other 80 percent will.'
The $2 million restaurant, which includes a childrens play area and a lifesize model of that icon of fast food Ronald McDonald, is only the betginning of the spread of American quick cuisine to the Middle East.
The Illinois-based burger chain will open a restaurant in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia next month with plans for franchises in Jedda, Oman, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
McDonald's vice-president Jim Skinner said that there were no immediate plans to open a restaurant in the Israeli occupied territories which are slated to become autonomous Palestine over the next five years, but added 'I'm sure it will happen in the long run.'
Meanwhile, Padan expects to open 5 to 6 new franchises here each year with the goal of saturating the Jewish state with 40 to 50 branchess where Israelis can satisfy their 'Big Mac attacks.'
Padan said that he expects his expansion to result in 1,200 new jobs in the Israeli labor market by the end of 1994.
Local farmers were incensed when they learned earlier this year McDonald's planned to import potatoes for their famed french fries, but a new Israeli factory is being built to provide a local supply of spuds.
While environmental groups in the U.S. have convinced McDonald's to cut back on their use of non-biodegradable styrofoam comtainers, local Big Macs as well as Chicken Mcnuggets and Fillet-of-Fish sandwiches will be served up in the not-so environmentally sound boxes.
The fast-food havens are sure to be a hit here, where the opening of other U.S. eateries like the Hard Rock Cafe, Pizza Hut, and Dominos Pizza have become 'in' places to eat for secular Israelis.
Will Israelis find variations of their local favorites at McDonald's? There were no plans afoot for either a McFallafel or Humous McPita.
'In some countries they add local variations to the menu,' said Skinner, 'but we feel most Israelis want the real thing. I don't think we need to compete with the local shawarma shop.'
