NEW DELHI: Seven kilometres from Dharamsala, Dharamkot could have been any Indian hamlet in the hills, except that it looks like a mini Israel with Hebrew street signs and STD booths displaying the local time in Israel.

Dharamkot has roughly 1000 Indians and five times as many resident Israelis at any given point in time.

Unsurprisingly, it is now more Israeli in character than Indian with more Hebrew spoken on its streets than any Indian dialect, while village commerce accommodates young Israelis' taste for bistros and massage parlours.

Nanak Kathuria, a retired Army captain and village resident, says, "Although our life has been disturbed in recent years due to these visitors and their late-night parties, and we fear our kids may go astray. But for a remote village, where people didn't have many means of livelihood, these visitors provide us income." Kathuria has converted his small house into a six-bedroom "guest house" and charges roughly Rs 200 a day.

Also read: Indo-Israel ties: The bond grows stronger with time