Wrong encoding when saving in Preview

Try these two approaches:

1 - do a Print ➙ Print to PDF

2 - do an File ➙ Export as a PDF

See if either of those approaches will keep the proper font coding in the PDF.

Also try Control (right) - clicking on the PDF in the email and selecting Save to XXXX or drag it from the email to the Desktop and see if the coding remains as it should.

Where are you getting these PDFs? Literally every document in the world is unique. I just downloaded some Israeli tax forms and I have save them with no trouble. Obviously, your files are different. The PDF format itself is not what people think it is. It was designed to print - and absolutely nothing else. Virtually everything that people do with PDFs these days was a clever hack.

I can't begin to guess what the cause of this problem with your files might be. There are just too many possibilities for making a PDF that can be viewed, but not re-saved.

I think all you need to do is avoid re-saving the document. Instead of saving it from within Preview, just save the file from your e-mail to wherever you want it to live. Then, I recommend making it read-only so you can't accidentally overwrite it again. I have no idea what e-mail you are using, so I can't give you specific instructions. In Apple Mail, you could:

1) Drag the attachment to the desktop;

2) Choose "Save attachments" from the File menu;

3) <big sigh> Hover your mouse pointer over the middle faint grey line that separates the message headers from the message body to reveal (as much as a grey-on-white menu can be) the hidden menu and choose "Save all" from the "paperclip" menu.

It could be that you don't have the right Hebrew font that's required. But you might try this: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

Try Adobe Reader instead. That's the gold standard for pdf. Sometimes Preview messes up.