Purpose: Research suggests that cultural dimensions affect teachers' perceptions and behaviors. Based on Hofstede's cultural dimensions and organizational innovation climate literature, we examined the effects of the cultural values of collectivism, masculinity, power distance, uncertainty avoidance and short-term orientation on teachers' perceptions of school innovative climate and their affective commitment. Design/methodology/approach: Arab and Jewish Israeli teachers studying toward their MA degree (N = 268) were randomly selected from three colleges to fill out questionnaires pertaining to these cultural values, innovative climate and their affective commitment. Findings: Only the cultural value of collectivism positively affected perceptions of innovative climate. Negative relationships were found between the latter and uncertainty avoidance, as well as masculinity. Perception of innovative climate, in turn, related positively to teachers' affective commitment. Originality/value: This study adds to the body of research directed at identifying antecedents to affective commitment as well as to studies examining cultural effects on innovation.