I won't go into many details about the border crossing between Jordan and Israel, but it was definitely no easy walk across with the Ark. (We should've picked it up at Tanis, I don't know what we were thinking.)
I think we took a total of 3 buses: Amman-King Hussein bridge, Jordan-Israel border, and border-Jerusalem. A combination of Jordanian inefficiency (and power cuts), long Israeli security lines, and passport issues.
A few of my friends were questioned since they had Lebanese or Syrian stamps on their passports, which extended our transit time by at least an hour. Under the disarming gaze of a female Israeli officer, it's clear why people hiding something have issues being even vaguely comprehensible.
In total, the border crossing took us about seven hours--a stretch of land that's even smaller than the Gulf of Aqaba. (And we wonder why people who travel across to visit their families can have tempers.)
On the efficiency spectrum, barring border issues, Israel is definitely at the top of the list, with Jordan a distant second.
Arabs see Israel as an artificial European colonialist construct imposed on their lands, and it's not hard to see how similar Israel is to Europe, both price-wise and in lifestyle. But there is some variation: in Jerusalem and most of the eastern area including the West Bank, the Middle Eastern Arab culture really shows through.
My favorite place was Jerusalem, which has a sort of balance between East and West.
The difference in lifestyle between even East and West Jerusalem is astounding. We got off the bus on a lively Arab street that reminded me a lot of Cairo (but with easier air and slightly less organized chaos). In just a few minutes we were on the Jewish side, with its high-end outdoor shopping centers, green Egged buses flying down every street, and street lights that actually are respected. You have to think twice about walking across the street anywhere you want, because the police can dock you at least 200 shekels (~$40) if they see you deviating from the crosswalk. You can't even double- or triple-park your car, and there are meters on every corner. Where's the fun?
Since my last visit in January, the clear inequality of standards of living between the two areas hasn't changed much, if at all. Seth and I explored West Jerusalem by bus one day and there are advanced housing complexes on every hill. In East Jerusalem, by contrast, trash collection doesn't even seem to happen.
A quick note: for those of you who might think that by talking about all this efficiency I'm implying that Arab culture is undeveloped compared to Israel, I'm not. It has its own individual uniqueness that definitely should not be assimilated into the Israeli or "European" model (Jordan is in the process of this, and it's an interesting balance when you compare Amman to outlying rural areas). There are just some standards that can't be attributed to culture, though, like picking up trash. It's a health and cleanliness issue. I'm not sure quite the reason for this, but I'm guessing that it's a combination of lack of adequate infrastructure, group psychology ("It doesn't matter if I do it, others will anyway") and higher priorities. If you're living on a small amount each day, your priority will not be to the environment, something you can't derive a clear, short-term benefit from.
So a lot remains to be done. We stayed in the Old City, where trash collection happens late every night with huge truck-like behemoths that glide through the tight streets. We discovered this on a late-night stroll of Jerusalem, which is a great thing to do if you're ever there. Weather was perfect.
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