By Amit Acco, Partner |

Starting this month, 2,000 foreign workers from Jordan will enter Israel to work in the hotel industry in the Eilat area under special designated hotel industry work visas, as well as 300 Jordanian workers that were approved  for the construction, industry, and services sectors in the Eilat area

This was following the increase in the quota, which was brought to the government’s approval by the Minister of Tourism, and the entry of Jordanian workers into Israel on a daily basis was renewed while canceling the obligation to stay overnight.

The lack of hotel staff in Israel, in a variety of positions, is one of the most burdensome problems for the operation of hotels in Israel – a problem that increases during the peak period of tourism, recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, and in light of the increase in the number both Israeli and foreign visitors.

In tourism, as in other various industries in the economy, there is a real difficulty in recruiting Israeli workers (regardless of the salary level). There is also a shortage of professional workers (jobs that require a training process, such as cooks, waiters, etc.).

Therefore, the Ministry of Tourism intends to continue working to assist in hiring and increasing employment of foreign nationals under work visas in Israel, in the tourism industry, as stated out of a desire to improve the service.

Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov:

“The plight of hotel workers needed a quick solution, and the government decided we passed is precisely the most effective tool for this. Thanks to the entry of Jordanian workers to work in hotels in Eilat, as well as the reduction of costs for employers for employing the additional foreign workers who entered Israel, the ability of The hoteliers do what they are best at, which is hosting. Now, immediately, the hotel owners will be able to offer a better service to vacationers – a service that will at least match the price of the vacation.”

Minister of the Interior Eilat Shaked:

“At the end of two years of the application of corona restrictions on the employment of Jordanian workers in the Eilat area, I welcome the return to the routine of daily entry of workers into Israel starting today. This important step, in parallel with the quick handling of the Population and Immigration Authority in allocating an additional quota to hotels in the Eilat area that were found, are entitled to it, without a doubt they will help the hotel industry in the Eilat area in the immediate term.”

Head of the Administration of Foreign Workers at the Population and Immigration Authority, Advocate Inbal Mashash:

“The Population and Immigration Authority considers the success of the Jordanian worker project in the Eilat area to be very important, while maintaining the exercise of their rights and their terms of employment, and welcomes the return to routine and the entry of workers before it is customary”