Jordan Gains Popularity As Vacation Spot For Israelis

Israeli children playing in a pool alongside Palestinian, Jordanian and Syrian children - such a scene may look surprising, yet it is part of everyday life at a 5-star hotel located in Aqaba, on the shores of the Red Sea, in Jordan.

Over the Sukkot holiday season, Israeli vacationers have seemingly taken over the small resort town, where they make up the majority of tourists.

Shirli, an Israeli, traveled with her family from the town of Atlit, near Mount Carmel. This mother of two is delighted with her vacation, "We didn't want to take the plane, it's a mess at Ben Gurion airport during the holidays. The prices are also much more attractive here than in Eilat; and we were curious to discover a new culture."

The discovery of a new culture, in fact, is rather limited, since the vacationers keep to themselves, and the hotel staff is composed mainly of Filipinos and Kenyans. In the evenings, a Jordanian, who is one of the only ones at the hotel, greets the tourists who have come to watch a performance in English, German, Russian, Arabic, French and Italian. But not in Hebrew, which is the primary spoken by the audience.