Israel hires foreign construction workers to replace Palestinians

The plan, expected to be presented to the Israeli economic cabinet within two weeks and implemented in 2024, aims to attract about 80,000 workers to work in the construction and agricultural sectors to reduce dependence on Palestinian labor.

About 150,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and another 18,500 from Gaza have worked in Israel. Photo: Reuters

Under the plan, Israel seeks to bring in about 80,000 workers from various countries, mainly from Asia, to work in construction and agriculture . Among them are about 25,000 workers from Sri Lanka, 20,000 from China, 17,000 from India, 13,000 from Thailand and 6,000 from Moldova.

Before coming into effect, the plan will require signing agreements with these countries and holding negotiations on working conditions.

Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Israel has had to fire about 72,000 Palestinian workers at construction sites in Israel, expelling them from Israel for security reasons.

Although there are still about 20,000 foreign workers remaining, nearly half of the construction sites in the country have had to close due to a lack of labor.

Before the conflict, there were about 150,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and another 18,500 from Gaza working in Israel. Israel's construction industry and agriculture are heavily dependent on foreign labor.

New groups of foreign workers are expected to arrive in the coming weeks as the country seeks to address a supply bottleneck that threatens to send property prices soaring again as interest rates begin to fall, according to a spokesman for Israel's housing ministry.

Ngoc Anh (according to Reuters, KAN)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/israel-tuyen-cong-nhan-nuoc-ngoai-thay-the-cho-nguoi-palestine-post283675.html