New Delhi: Israel has begun the process to bring in thousands of Indian and Chinese workers to work largely in the construction industry, in which the country has been facing a crisis for nearly two decades.
During Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen’s truncated visit to New Delhi last month, both countries signed an agreement that would facilitate 42,000 Indian workers in Israel, out of which 34,000 would be brought into the construction industry. A few weeks later, an Israeli government delegation went to China to interview 5,000 candidates for jobs in the construction industry. Last year, Israel also turned its eye towards Morocco to look for recruits for its construction and caregiving sectors.
Till now, Indian workers were primarily involved in caregiving, accounting for a majority of the 18,000 Indian nationals in the West Asian country. The venture into the construction labour market in Israel would be new for Indians.
According to a report in Walla News dated May 29, the Indian workers would be admitted to Israel in phases – half in the first year. The tally of 10,000 Indian workers that was mentioned in the article was, however, much less than what was cited by the Israeli foreign ministry.
The Hebrew article quoted the Israel Population and Immigration Authority (PIBA) as stating that Indian workers would be an answer to the “great shortage” in the construction and nursing sector in Israel.
It further noted that “about the foreign workers expected to arrive from India, another wave of workers from China is expected for the construction industry”.
This year, said the director of foreign worker administration at PIBA, Inbal Mashash, 10,000 foreign workers will be admitted into Israel for the construction industry, from China, India and Moldova. “The entry of workers will help the building industry and increase the supply of residential apartments,” she stated.
A report in the London-based website, Middle East Eye attributed its source to the Walla News article with the headline, “Israel set to bring 10,000 Indian labourers for jobs traditionally held by Palestinians”.
While the article had linked to the Walla News article, it highlighted the influx of Indian workers but did not mention that Chinese nationals were also being recruited for the same industry.
The MEE article noted that India’s government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has forged extremely close ties with Tel Aviv.
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After stating that the influx of Indian workers would be the “most tangible” sign of affecting cooperation in daily life in Israel, it commented that 100,000 Palestinians work legally in Israel, mostly in the construction industry.
The MEE article does not provide any indication that Indian workers will replace Palestinian workers. The possibility of a replacement is uncertain, as it would imply a finite number of projects and jobs, suggesting no room for additional projects.
Another article in The Jerusalem Post on the same topic of the anticipated surge in foreign construction workers noted that this was taking place against the backdrop of the vocal concern among Israelis about the rising cost of living prices, with one of its biggest drivers being the price of housing.
In 2022, there had been widespread protests about housing prices, with street protests turning into tent cities in the Israeli capital. It recalled similar rallies in the summer of 2011 when Israelis came out on the roads to protest against housing costs. The last general elections in November 2022 saw both political camps promising to mitigate the high cost of living, which was the top economic issue for voters.
One of the mitigation routes for this two-decade-long housing crisis is to increase the supply. However, Israeli workers are not found in adequate numbers for the construction industry.
Constant struggle over quotas and shortage
According to a January 2023 research paper in the peer-reviewed journal Migration Letters, ‘wet works’ in the construction industry are mostly performed by non-Israeli workers, made up of both Palestinians and foreigners. However, since Israel limits the number of non-Israelis by setting quotas and levies, it has usually resulted in a shortage of workers in the industry.
There has been a constant push and pull between the Ministries of Construction and Finance over the number of permits for non-Israeli workers in the construction sector, which means there has been a number of changes in policy over the years, the paper said.
The last revision of the policy was in 2021 which increased the number of permits for non-Israeli workers in the construction industry by an additional 29,000 workers. This included new permits for 15,500 Palestinians and 13,500 foreign workers, as per the paper authored by two Israeli researchers.
The journal article also examined the factors that are considered while deciding whether the shortage can be addressed by either increasing the quota for Palestinian workers or employing more foreign workers.
The International Labour Organisation’s May 2023 report on “The Situation of workers in the Occupied Arab Territories” said that a total of 192,700 Palestinians work in Israel, one third more than a year earlier. Around 60% of Palestinian workers are in the construction industry.
With unemployment in West Bank persisting at a high level, the International Labour Organization’s report observed that the Palestinian economy and labour was “becoming excessively reliant on Israel”.
The research paper noted that there were two major advantages in employing Palestinian construction workers. “The Palestinian workers do not live in Israel and therefore their employment does not affect the socio-demographic composition of the state. In addition, the employment and economic well-being of these workers could, among other factors, contribute to the calming relations between Israel and the Palestinians,” it said.
At the same time, the disadvantage was their distance from their homes to the workplace and the need to cross checkpoints daily. “In cases of security clashes and border closures, Palestinian workers do not come to work in Israel”.
The researchers concluded that the near-equal division of work permits between Palestinian workers and migrant workers in the 2011 policy revision suggests that the Israel government “has no unequivocal preference regarding the origin of non-Israeli workers that should be added to the industry”.
However, even additional foreign workers from India, China and beyond, as per the increased quota, may not be enough to address the critical dearth of manpower in the housing sector. A senior official of the Israeli Contractors and Builders Association told The Jerusalem Post that there would still be a shortage of 15,000 workers after the latest move by the Israeli government.
