Amid Gaza war, over 6,000 Indian workers to depart for Israel by May

The Israeli government on Wednesday announced that over 6,000 Indian workers are scheduled to land in Israel between April and May to assist the nation’s construction industry in tackling a labour deficit triggered by the Israel-Hamas conflict.

A statement released by the Israeli government late Wednesday disclosed that these workers will be transported via an “air shuttle,” after the government agreed to subsidise chartered flights for this purpose.

‘It was agreed approximately one week ago on the arrival of over 6,000 workers from India during April and May, on an “air shuttle” following the subsidizing of the charter flights,’ the statement said.

The workers from India are being transported to Israel under a government-to-government (G2G) agreement between the two nations, PTI reported.

Why Israel needs Indian workers?

Amidst the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which has continued for over six months with no evident resolution, Israel is facing a significant shortage of foreign workers.

The majority of these workers, approximately 80,000, originally hailed from the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank, with an additional 17,000 coming from the Gaza Strip. However, the outbreak of conflict in October led to the revocation of work permits for a vast majority of them, exacerbating the labour shortage in the country.

Last Tuesday, 64 construction workers from India landed in Israel as part of the agreement. Over the next few weeks, a total of 850 more workers are expected to arrive by mid-April.

In recent months, over 900 construction workers have already entered Israel from India through the B2B route.

In addition to workers from India and Sri Lanka, approximately 7,000 have come from China and around 6,000 from Eastern Europe.

“This (6,000 workers from India) is the largest number of foreign workers arriving in Israel for the construction sector in a short time, the statement noted.

Israel easing regulations to increase influx of foreign workers

The statement said that the government has conducted intensive staff work to facilitate a substantial increase in the influx of foreign workers into Israel. The aim is to lower the cost of living, streamline bureaucratic processes, reduce friction between the government and the business sector, enhance supervision and oversight of foreign workers’ employment, and safeguard their rights, it said.