An odd bug in Google Street View is causing the online service to show most street names in Tel Aviv with their names in Arabic instead of Hebrew or English, which are the default options for most Israeli devices.

If you go on a virtual tour around Tel Aviv’s northern neighborhoods this weekend, it is likely that instead of Kikar Hamedina you may end up at هـ بئي. And if you wanted to see Rothschild Boulevard, where the 2012 social-justice protests began, don't be surprised if you end up with photographs of -شارع روتشيلد.

A probe by TheMarker shows that if one searches for Heh Be’iyar Street on Google Street View, the photographs of the streets around Kikar Hamedina in Tel Aviv show their names in Arabic. The same is true of Tashah (1948) Street, Independence Boulevard, Rothschild Boulevard and the intersections of Hazohar and Herzog Streets in the Bavli neighborhood, and other random streets throughout the city.

Tens of thousands of Israelis use Google’s mapping services and photo applications every day to plan trips. But anyone who tries to do so from a computer with a Windows operating system and any of the popular browsers — Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer — will receive search results in Arabic. Google Street View’s application for the iPhone and iPad also show the street names in Arabic. But on devices that use Google’s Android operating system, the search results show up in Hebrew or English.

In reply to a question from TheMarker, Google officials confirmed that this is a bug for which no fix has yet been found.

“We want to make our maps as exact and usable as possible. We are aware of the issue and will try to solve it as quickly as possible,” company officials said.