I used to make fun of my Israeli boyfriend when he would wash the dishes in my Manhattan apartment. He would use about half the bottle of liquid Dawn, lather every item up with suds and put them all over the limited counter space and stovetop, and only THEN turn on the water to rinse everything. It was fun to watch - there really was soap everywhere, and after he wiped up the mess, my counters and stove were usually nice and clean. I had never seen anyone use such a skewed ratio of soap:water before. And what was with the need to soap everything and then rinse? Do Israeli siblings not fight over the wash/rinse/dry duties in the dish washing assembly lines?
I just found myself washing dishes like an Israeli. At least I'm in Israel, where the countertops are made of tile and are flush with the sink, so you just need to push the soap back into the sink when you're done. And I get it now! It's to save water! If you don't soap underneath the running flow of water a la Americans, you use less. Which means you are saving the Kinneret! What a good Israeli! Or, because you want to use the water for other necessary things, like watering the brown lawn on the morning of a 40*C day. Brilliant!
"Hey! Don't rinse yet! I haven't used up all the soap!"