Workers from South Asia are heading to Israel, whose need for labor has become more pressing since the Hamas attack in October.
The Israeli government has closed crossings from the West Bank, putting thousands of Palestinians out of work, and many of the foreign workers Israel depends on to operate its farms and construction industry have left. Most of the approximately 30,000 foreign agricultural workers in Israel were from Thailand, dozens of whom were kidnapped or killed on October 7.
In the coming weeks, thousands of people from India and Sri Lanka will be sent to Israel, officials from the three countries said, as part of agreements aimed at providing labor, mainly in the sectors construction, health and agriculture. Both India and Sri Lanka suffer high unemploymentand officials said they had received thousands of applications for construction jobs in Israel.
Mukesh Ranjan, a construction worker in the northern Indian state of Haryana, said that despite the risk posed by the war in Gaza, he and dozens of others from his village applied for jobs. construction jobs through a state government agency, which he said he has received more than 2,500 applications.
Mr. Ranjan said that if selected, he would use his salary to pay for better schooling for his two teenage daughters and to repay debt incurred due to losses on his farm.
“I’ll jump at the chance,” he said.
Recruitment is part of a deal a May strike between India and Israel that would grant permits to 42,000 Indian workers, Indian media reported. Around 34,000 workers would be employed in construction and 8,000 in the health sector.
Around 10,000 Sri Lankan workers are already employed in Israel, mainly as caregivers in the health care sector. Bandula Gunawardena, a minister in the Sri Lankan government, said the country reached an agreement with Israel in November to send more agricultural workers and that the first group had already gone there.
Recruitment from South Asia is not intended to fill the void left by Palestinian workers but is part of filling existing quotas for foreign labor, Israeli officials said.
Inbal Mashash, director of the Foreign Workers Administration at the Israel Population and Immigration Authority, said the Israeli economy was under pressure due to the departure of foreign workers, the growing number of reservists Israelis called up for military service and restrictions on Palestinians entering from the West Bank.
“There’s no doubt that the economy is going through something of a crisis right now in terms of labor,” she said.
Representatives of the Israeli Builders Association, a private organization, said they were screening workers in India for construction jobs and that selections would soon begin in Sri Lanka, where thousands have applied.
Before October 7, about 80,000 Palestinian workers were employed in Israel’s construction sector, said Shay Pauzner, deputy director of the builders’ association. They were joined by 18,000 foreigners from Eastern Europe and China, as well as an additional 200,000 Israelis.
Overall, the number of Palestinian workers entering Israel daily from the West Bank has fallen to about 8,000 from 124,000 before Oct. 7, said Shani Sasson, a representative for COGAT, the Israeli defense agency that oversees the policy. for the Palestinian territories.
In India, there is some opposition to recruitment. The country led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has moved closer to Israel, with which it now shares extensive defense ties but has also long supported Palestinian rights.
K. Hemalata, president of the Indian Construction Workers’ Federation, expressed concern that Israel was using Indian workers to deprive Palestinians. “We are totally against this,” she said.
But Ms. Mashash, of the Israeli immigration authority, said foreign workers “do not replace Palestinian workers,” whose work permits have not been revoked.
John Reiss and Pamodi Waravita contributed reporting.
