Israelis are usually off from the evening of Friday (sundown) till the evening of Saturday (sundown) for Shabbat. Where did you get the idea that they’re off on Fridays during daytime?

In this context, middle eastern countries with Islam as the majority religion have the day off on Fridays.

I used to work for two Israeli companies and they were always off on Friday and Saturday. They start the week from Sunday.

in Israel, Friday is generally not a workday (or "business day"), a la Sunday in the western world