Israel will kick out every Asian restaurant worker by the end of the year

"We feel an Israeli can hold a wok as well as a Thai or a Chinese person," says a Trade Ministry official in charge of work permits.

ccording to an Associated Press story from Jerusalem, the Israeli government will send foreign restaurant workers packing by next January. Industry leaders warn they won't be able to provide the food Israelis want and their business will be hurt.

Or, as the AP dispatch puts it: "Israel's sushi craze could be in for trouble."

Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Indian restaurants have grown into a $280 million-a-year business, accounting for 10 percent of the local dining landscape, according to the Israeli Ethnic Restaurant Association.

Asian restaurants employ 900 foreign-born chefs and kitchen workers. But now, that Trade Ministry says Israelis should do those jobs.

The statement by Shoshana Strauss, a lawyer at the Trade Ministry, which regulates work permits for foreign workers, is worth repeating:

"We feel an Israeli can hold a wok as well as a Thai or a Chinese person."

In the minds of Thai chefs, at least, "hold" might be the operative word.

"If we don't have cooks, we don't have food. If we don't have food, we don't have customers," said Steven Lobel, who owns two Asian restaurants employing 14 Asian kitchen workers in the Tel Aviv area.

No kidding. But beginning next year, there will be no work visas for foreigners in the business, only tourist visas permitting brief consulting opportunities for experts in Asian cuisine, the Trade Ministry says.

The ministry has begun offering Asian cooking classes to Israelis, but few have shown interest, generating skepticism enough Israelis will step forward to fill the void.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=125911

The insanity continues...

Though the Asians could remind them of...

Israel will kick out every Asian restaurant worker by the end of the year Barcodeyn4

Israel will kick out every Asian restaurant worker by the end of the year Barcodeyn4

Israel will kick out every Asian restaurant worker by the end of the year

Israel will kick out every Asian restaurant worker by the end of the year

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