Amidst the fierce war that has been going on between Israel and Hamas for more than six months, six thousand Indian workers will go to Israel in April-May. The Israeli government has made its official announcement on Thursday. The war has created a severe shortage of workers in Israel. To overcome this shortage, more than six thousand Indian laborers will go to Israel within two months. These laborers will help in construction related works.
Regarding this, the Finance Ministry and Construction and Housing Ministry of the Israeli government have decided to provide subsidy on chartered flights. Therefore, the workers will be taken to Israel by air shuttle. A government agreement has been signed between the two countries to transport laborers from India to Israel.
Why does Israel need Indian workers?
Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 last year. After this Israel also retaliated. After the air strike, Israel has destroyed Gaza by taking ground action. It is too early to say how long this war will last. In such a situation, Israel is facing a huge shortage of foreign workers.
The majority of these workers, approximately 80,000, were originally from the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank. 17,000 workers came from the Gaza Strip. Most of their work permits were canceled after the war broke out in October. Due to which the shortage of workers has increased in the country.
Under the agreement, 64 construction workers from India reached Israel last Tuesday. A total of 850 more workers are expected to arrive over the next few weeks through mid-April. More than 900 construction workers have entered Israel from India through the B2B route in recent months.
In addition to workers from India and Sri Lanka, about 7,000 came from China and about 6,000 from Eastern Europe. This is the largest number of foreign workers coming to Israel for the construction sector in a short period of time, the statement said.
Israel relaxed rules for foreign workers
The government has relaxed rules to allow a significant increase in the influx of foreign workers into Israel. It said it aims to reduce the cost of living, streamline bureaucratic processes, reduce conflicts between the government and the business sector, increase oversight and monitoring of the employment of foreign workers, and protect their rights.
