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CONSTRUCTING INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND JORDAN: THE CASE OF THE ‘EILAT PROJECT’

2021; Babeș-Bolyai University; Issue: 37 Linguagem: Inglês

10.24193/ojmne.2021.37.08

2247-0514

Ronen SHAY,

Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies

Due to the rarity of cooperation between the two states, "the Eilat project" signifies a new era in Israel and Jordan's relations since it permits Jordanians to cross the border to work in Eilat's hospitality industry.Eilat, the southernmost city of Israel, hosts 12,000 hotel rooms, averaging occupancy between 65%-75% (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015), including hotels from one star to five stars deluxe.Till the initiation of the project, the hotel sector relied on illegal African migrant workers.The constant shortage of employees, especially in the needed departments like housekeeping and stewarding, created continuous chaos, and hotels could not function at maximum capacity.Hence, Israel decided to explore a new commercial frontier and agreed to incorporate Jordanian employees into the Israeli hospitality industry.Incorporating the Jordanian workers enabled hotels to be fully operational and provided work to Aqaba's citizens.As a recreation area, Eilat's economy relies on tourism.80% of the city business depends on the hospitality industry.Thus, when the city is filled with tourists, it helps the city's growth and development.Jordan is known to be an exporter of workforce to the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, especially in the hospitality industry.The 'Arab Spring' caused inflation and unemployment that were realized in feelings of discontent and frustration.Therefore, the Eilat project guaranteed work to 2000 people and ensured a good life for their extended families.The project has a positive economic impact on Eilat and Aqaba as it lowers unemployment, enriches the economy, and enables the hotel industry's operation.The initiative opened new business horizons, allowed further investments, more endeavors, and helped many families from both sides of the boarders to build businesses and prosper.This paper examines the new endeavor between Israel and Jordan, two states that usually refrain from collaboration.It sheds light on the power of cross-cultural communication in cultivating feelings of trust and respect between people from different religions and nationalities. 3Cultural understanding of the modern multicultural workforce has been studied extensively since the beginning of globalization.Yet, this paper emphasizes distinctive features that derive due to the cold peace (e.g., national animosity, security hazards, bureaucracy, and national affiliation) that were not investigated in the realm of a global multicultural workforce.The study objective is to detect novel and practical ways to sustain and improve cold 3 The study is based on the author's PhD research paper.