Semitic languages
The similarity of the Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic languages was accepted by Jewish and Islamic scholars since medieval times. The languages were familiar to Western European scholars due to historical contact with neighbouring Near Eastern countries and through Biblical studies, and a comparative analysis of Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic was published in Latin in 1538 by Guillaume Postel. Almost two centuries later, Hiob Ludolf described the similarities between these three languages and the Ethiopian Semitic languages. However, neither scholar named this grouping as "Semitic".
Arabic language in Israel
Israel's large population of Arabic-speakers, its location in the Middle East, decades of globalization, and the Mizrahi heritage of the majority of Israel's Jewish population have all influenced spoken Hebrew in Israel. After Hebrew and English, Arabic songs (sung both by native Arab speakers and by Mizrahi Israelis) are frequently played on the radio. A-WA's debut single, Habib-Galbi, released in 2015, was the first Arabic language song to reach number 1 on Israeli radio and Arabic plays a very prominent role in the "slang" (street language) of Israel's youth.