Jordan distancing itself from plan to employ 1500 Jordanians in Eilat

AFP reports:

The Israeli government Sunday authorized 1,500 more Jordanians to come and work in its Red Sea resort of Eilat to combat a labor shortage, the tourism ministry said

It said the decision was taken because of the “serious crisis” caused by not enough hotel workers.

The Jordanians would enter Israel to work and go back across the border to Jordan at night once their shift was finished, the ministry said in a statement.

“I am persuaded that this decision will reinforce peace between Israel and Jordan, and help reduce high unemployment in southern Jordan,” it quoted Tourism Minister Uzi Landau as saying.

Ministry figures show that some 300 Jordanians currently work in and around the resort, which has about 12,000 hotel rooms.

Jordan's Ammon News says that Jordan's Labor Ministry knows nothing about this.

The secretary-general of the ministry Hamada Abu Negmet said the ministry "does not have relationships with Israel, nor any program or cooperation of any kind," pointing out that there may be other parties to cooperate with Israel in this endeavor but certainly not the ministry.

That seems unlikely.

“We are under severe pressure by the shortage of manpower in Eilat – especially in the summer season,” said Eilat Hotel Association CEO Shabtai Shay. Being able to employ Jordanians “will make our lives much easier,” he said.

The Jordanians will work only during the day – crossing the border in the morning and returning to Jordan in the evening.

“I’ve done everything in my power to employ Israelis,” Shay said. “We offer special benefits; we offer higher salaries…but we were unable to employ Israelis.”

I imagine that there are plenty of Western college students who would love to work in Eilat all summer for free in exchange for transportation, room and board.