Israeli reports stated that the government intends to lay off thousands of Palestinian workers whose entry into Israel was restricted after the Hamas attack and to employ about 80,000 foreign workers, which raised concerns about the rights of Palestinian workers and the security and economic risks this step entails, as well as raising concerns also related to the rights of foreign workers. .
These reports come as the Israeli economy suffers from a severe labor shortage and weak production since the start of the war that followed the Hamas attack on October 7, which killed about 1,200 people in Israel.
Under the announced plan, The Times of Israel said, the government is considering bringing in more than 80,000 workers, most of them from Asia, to fill jobs in the construction and agricultural sectors, which are usually occupied by Palestinians.
Before the Hamas attack, 150,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and 18.5,000 others from the Gaza Strip had permits to enter Israel to work, according to the Government Coordination Unit for Actions in the Territories, before their entry was restricted.
Israel imposed strict restrictions on the entry of Palestinians after Hamas attacks, and thousands of foreign farm workers in southern Israel have left.
The Times of Israel reported that the new plan was approved by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and the government is scheduled to discuss it within two weeks, followed by a vote on it.
According to the report, the government also intends to incentivize Israelis to work in construction and agriculture, as well as promote technologies that reduce the number of workers in these fields.
Makan Public Broadcasting Corporation reported that the government proposal includes the entry of workers from Sri Lanka, China, India, and Thailand, but it is not clear whether this labor will be able to fill the gap in the workers’ veto currently.
“We are in a very deplorable state,” Raul Sargo, head of the Israel Builders Association, told a Knesset committee on December 25. “The industry is at a complete standstill and is only producing 30 percent. 50 percent of the sites are closed and there is an impact on the Israeli economy.” And the housing market.
In mid-December, the Israeli military said that between 8,000 and 10,000 Palestinian workers from the West Bank may soon return to their jobs in Israeli settlements and companies in the West Bank. However, the security cabinet postponed voting on a proposal to allow Palestinian workers to enter Israel from the West Bank. for work.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not put the issue to a vote due to disagreements with the ministers of the security government. According to the Jerusalem Post.
The new proposal, according to The Times of Israel, aims to ward off security threats related to the entry of Palestinians, but it risks inflaming anger in the West Bank and removing what many policymakers consider an economic valve against terrorism.
Supporters of allowing Palestinians to work believe that the wages of these workers help support the faltering Palestinian economy and reduce the incentives to launch attacks.
Huge impact on the Palestinians
At a Knesset meeting on December 25, it was noted that the cost of continuing the ban on Palestinian workers could reach 3 billion shekels ($830 million) per month.
Saeed Omran, media officer at the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions, told The Jerusalem Post about hiring foreign workers: “This is a serious issue,” noting that hiring tens of thousands of foreigners will take time: “How will they get them so quickly?”
She said CAF La Ovid organization Israeli Workers’ Rights Committee: “Palestinian workers in the West Bank have been unable to reach their workplaces for more than a month, leaving them without salaries.”
The Israeli economic newspaper The Marker said: “About 100,000 Palestinian workers cannot work in Israel and are left without any income or social safety net. The repercussions on the Palestinian economy may be very difficult, and the damage will not stop within the Green Line.”
The report added: “The situation is becoming more dangerous as some of them have not yet received their September salary. The war continues, and it is not known whether they will be allowed to enter Israel and return to their jobs? Or when.”
Quotes CAF La Ovid organization Call on Israeli labor associations to allow those affected to receive a one-time financial payment from the Workers’ Pension Fund to provide some financial support.
The Population and Immigration Authority said in a statement in response to this call: “As a general rule, Palestinian workers who work legally… may submit requests for early withdrawal of retirement funds,” but it warned that “early withdrawal of funds” will have financial harm to them.
These reports come in light of the difficult economic situation in Israel with the shortage of workers.
And according To clear Conducted by the Israel Manufacturers Association on the impact of the first six weeks of the war, the percentage of factories that stopped working decreased from 29 percent in the first week of fighting, to 6 percent in the fourth week, and 1 percent in the sixth.
The Israeli army called in more than 350,000 reserve soldiers, and at the same time, the continuation of the war in Gaza and the exchange of bombings between Israel and Hezbollah led to the displacement of up to 200,000 people, according to the “Times of Israel.”
As a result, about 765,000 Israelis, representing 19 percent of the total workforce, are absent from work, according to a Labor Ministry report issued on November 13.
The absence of workers, including reservists, who were evacuated from their homes near the border, and who are forced to care for their children because schools are partially open, has put great pressure on the industrial sector, despite some recent improvement.
On Sunday, the Israeli army announced the demobilization of some reserve soldiers who were called up to fight Hamas in Gaza, a move it said would help the economy as the country prepares for a long-term war.
Withdrawing Israeli soldiers from Gaza…indicators of “less intense” operations
A US official said on Monday that Israel’s decision to withdraw some of its forces from Gaza is “the beginning of what appears to be a gradual shift to less intense operations” in the northern Palestinian enclave, despite the continuing fighting there.
Human rights experts fear that new proposals to bring in foreign workers will expose them to the risk of exploitation as Israel seeks to fill the gap.
Human rights expert Nick McGeehan said For “CBC”: “This situation is the perfect storm, because Israel is in dire need of workers, wants to get them at a cheap price and wants to get them easily… and there will be countries that do not mind sending their workers without asking any questions.”
Other concerns
Some Israeli sectors depend on foreign workers from other countries to maintain the workforce in construction and agriculture because they get difficult, low-paying jobs that local workers do not want to fill.
Israel began hiring workers for these jobs in the 1990s to replace Palestinians.
“Israel realized how convenient it was because its workers, who come for a limited period, receive the minimum wage, and their accommodation is very cheap because they live in poor housing and work long days,” said Asia Ladiginskaya, spokeswoman for CAF La Ovid.
According to the Israeli government, there were approximately 30,000 Thai workers in Israel before the Hamas attack, and the Israeli government estimated that 10,000 agricultural workers have left the country since then, while about 120,000 Palestinians have lost their jobs in Israeli construction work.
Ladyginskaya said that volunteers are helping agricultural communities or kibbutzim near the Gaza Strip, but construction work has been disrupted due to the loss of many workers.
The Israel Construction Association said in a statement that it hopes to bring up to 100,000 workers from India to the country to replace Palestinians whose Israeli permits were revoked.
Michael Straczynski, a professor of economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, believes the government will move quickly to close the loopholes.
A government minister told Reuters that Sri Lanka plans to send 10,000 workers to the Israeli construction sector, part of a larger group of 20,000 workers, including farm workers.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Population and Immigration Authority, and the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories Unit, the government agency that oversees entry permits, did not respond to requests for comment sent by The Jerusalem Post.
But CAF La Ovid spokeswoman said that the mass hiring of foreign workers at a short time during the war period could threaten their rights. “They want to bring in this many people without being prepared,” she added.
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2024-01-02 16:08:54
