More than 6,000 construction workers from India will arrive in Israel in April and May, reported the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency. Since the outbreak of the Hamas-Israeli war, Israel has been struggling with a labor shortage.
The workers will be brought in on an “air shuttle” and the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, in cooperation with several relevant ministries, will subsidize the charter flights. The first batch of more than 60 workers already arrived in Israel last week.
Israel is struggling with a labor shortage, including in the construction sector, where a bulk of the workers, 80,000, are Palestinians from the West Bank. Another 17,000 Palestinian builders from Gaza saw their work permits revoked in October 2023 following the brutal attack by Hamas that claimed the lives of 1,200 Israelis and foreigners and saw several hundred more kidnapped to be held as hostages in Gaza.
According to PTI, the Indian workers will arrive in Israel as part of an intergovernmental agreement. Prior to that, more than 900 workers from India had already arrived in Israel as a result of agreements between employment agencies operating in the two countries.
Israel’s Industrial Cooperation Agency told PTI that as of yet, it arranged for 20,000 work permits for workers from India and Sri Lanka, half of them as a part of the intergovernmental agreement. The process of issuing visas to the workers is currently underway.
Additionally, some 7,000 Chinese and about 6,000 Eastern European workers arrived in Israel to make up for the labor shortage caused by the revocation of work permits for Gazans.
According to PTI, there are currently already 18,000 Indians working in Israel, mostly as caregivers. Most of them have no plans to go back to India just now, citing high remuneration and a feeling of security they enjoy while working in Israel.
Israel is struggling with a labor shortage, including in the construction sector, where a bulk of the workers, 80,000, are Palestinians from the West Bank. Another 17,000 Palestinian builders from Gaza saw their work permits revoked in October 2023 following the brutal attack by Hamas that claimed the lives of 1,200 Israelis and foreigners and saw several hundred more kidnapped to be held as hostages in Gaza.
According to PTI, the Indian workers will arrive in Israel as part of an intergovernmental agreement. Prior to that, more than 900 workers from India had already arrived in Israel as a result of agreements between employment agencies operating in the two countries.
Israel’s Industrial Cooperation Agency told PTI that as of yet, it arranged for 20,000 work permits for workers from India and Sri Lanka, half of them as a part of the intergovernmental agreement. The process of issuing visas to the workers is currently underway.
Additionally, some 7,000 Chinese and about 6,000 Eastern European workers arrived in Israel to make up for the labor shortage caused by the revocation of work permits for Gazans.
According to PTI, there are currently already 18,000 Indians working in Israel, mostly as caregivers. Most of them have no plans to go back to India just now, citing high remuneration and a feeling of security they enjoy while working in Israel.
Source: PTI via PAP, Business Standard
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