Ars (Arabic: عرص ʿarṣ, Hebrew: ערס `ars), or Arsim (the plural in Hebrew) is a derogatory Hebrew slang term for the Israeli stereotype of a low-class young man. The stereotype may also refer to attributes such as flashy jewelry and clothing. A woman fitting this stereotype is an Arsit (though this usually implies a certain manliness in the woman), the word formed by adding the Hebrew feminine ending "it" to the Arabic word "Ars". Other term used for women is Freha (פרחה). The Ars subculture traditionally was associated with young Jews of Moroccan, Yemeni, and Iranian origin, but in recent years has expanded to a broader range of ethnicities.
The traditional Ars spends his time hanging around the street, listening to teary out of character Mizrahi ballads, hitting on uninterested women and being rude to everyone in general. The typical Ars wears excessive amounts of jewellry, a cut off shirt, and usually a large Star of David necklace. The Ars eats 6 small meals a day, chases frightened young ladies down the street,and becomes hostile if anyone dares to critisize his loud obnoxious music.
The term is often considered offensive and racist towards Mizrahi youth, and is usually considered pejorative when said in person. Some critisize the term for stereotyping Mizrahi youth culture and for being unaccurate.
In Arabic the word ars has several meanings:[1]
A long form used sometimes is arsawwat.[2], although the Arabic plural of "Ars" is "Arsat".
A stereotypical ars wears tight, gaudy clothing and excessive gold jewellery, speaks "street" Hebrew with an excessive reliance on slang and swear words, is disrespectful to women and behaves rudely in public. The ars typically listens to Muzika Mizrahit (Hebrew: מוזיקה מזרחית), a genre in Israeli music originating from Arab music, and easily drawn to using violence - verbal and/or physical. Furthermore, arsim are often referred to as a "Jewish Guido".