African asylum seekers, Indian workers: Israel 'incentivises' war on Gaza

Israel is offering African asylum seekers who risk their lives in the Gaza war to get permanent residency in Israel, Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported.

Speaking off the record, Israeli defence officials have confirmed that the project is organised, with the guidance of defence establishment legal advisers.

However, no asylum seekers who contributed to the war effort have been granted official status.

There are presently over 30,000 African asylum seekers living in Israel, most of them are young males.

In the aftermath of October 7 attack, many asylum seekers volunteered for agricultural work and civilian command centers.

Defence authorities saw they could leverage the asylum seekers' desire for permanent status in Israel as an inducement.

Military sources have confirmed to Haaretz that the defence establishment has made use of asylum seekers in various operations.

Sources also revealed that there have been several requests by asylum seekers who aided Israel's military operations in Gaza; however, none were granted. At the same time, the defence establishment tried to elevate those who contributed to war.

In the recent past, Israel has incentivised military service for asylum seekers by offering citizenship to people whose children joined Israel's war on Gaza.

In January this year, the parents of a Filipino-Israeli reservist who was killed in Gaza were granted citizenship,

Indians in Israel

Earlier this year the Indian government advertised 10,000 positions for construction workers in Israel in at least the two states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Its advertisement said the salary for the jobs would be around 6,100 shekels, or approximately $1,625, a month.

The offer is mouthwatering for tens of thousands of Indians marred by poverty and unemployment as Israel mulls a plan to replace Palestinian workers with foreign labour.

However, construction workers are not the only people interested in working in Israel. Tel Aviv has set up a committee to work on plans for the migration of the Indian-Jewish community Bnei Menashe to the occupied territories.

Reports indicate hundreds of Israelis born in India, in particular from the states of Manipur and Mizoram, have answered the Israeli military's call to fight in Gaza.

According to a report on October 20, 2023, by India Today at least 400 Indians were fighting on the front lines with the Israeli military.

However, it remains unclear as to how many Indians in total enlisted in the Israeli military.

According to the South Asia Index, 215 Indian citizens have joined the Israeli military since the start of the war on Gaza and 4 Indians have been killed in Gaza while fighting for Israeli forces as foreign mercenaries.

The Israeli Ambassador to India, Naor Gilon, went a step further and told an Indian news agency, Asian News International (ANI), "This is only part of the picture, regular Indians. Look at the social media of the embassy. It's amazing, I think I could have another Israeli army with the volunteers. Everyone is telling me, I want to volunteer, I want to go and fight for Israel."