The following shows a regression in the JDK 7 Bidi algorithm which is affecting FX. import java.text.*; public class biditest { public static void main(String args[]) { printRuns("\u05D0\u05D1\u05D2"); } static void printRuns(String string) { Bidi bidi = new Bidi(string, Bidi.DIRECTION_LEFT_TO_RIGHT); for (int i = 0, count = bidi.getRunCount(); i < count; i++) { System.out.println("Run=" + i + " start=" + bidi.getRunStart(i) + " end=" + bidi.getRunLimit(i) + " level=" + bidi.getRunLevel(i)); } } } /java/re/jdk/6u32/promoted/all/b05/binaries/solaris-sparc/bin/java -client biditest Run=0 start=0 end=3 level=1 rincewind 114% /java/re/jdk/7/promoted/fcs/b148/binaries/solaris-sparc/bin/java biditest Run=0 start=0 end=3 level=0 /java/re/jdk/8/promoted/latest/binaries/solaris-sparc/bin/java -client biditest Run=0 start=0 end=3 level=0