Can Indians replace Palestinian workers in Israel?

An Israeli plan to bring in thousands of workers from India could create problems for Palestinians who have little recourse but to cross over into the Jewish state every day to make a living.

New Delhi and Tel Aviv are finalising details on an arrangement which can see an influx of up to 42,000 Indians in Israel’s construction and elderly care industries

Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, signed an agreement in this regard in New Delhi last month.

Around 150,000 Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip take the cumbersome journey, which involves security screenings and a humiliating wait for many, to work for private companies in Israel.

“I think this has little to do with economics and more to do with security and ideological considerations,” said Dr Mosheer Amer, a Gaza-based Palestinian academic, about the Israel-India deal.

“This is an extension of the attitude of the fanatical, extremist current government.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is leading the country for the sixth time, has cobbled together a right-wing government, which includes Jewish extremist elements who have openly called for the expulsion and, at times, even extermination of Palestinians.

Besides the 5.2 million Palestinians who live in the occupied territories and Gaza, some 1.5 Palestinian Arabs live in Israel.

Netanyahu has faced criticism from human rights groups for joining hands with far-right Jewish Power’s leader Itamar Ben-Gvir who derives his beliefs from the ideology of late Jewish extremist Meir Kahane.

In India, critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accuse him of curbing press freedom and passing laws which discriminate against Muslims.

The two countries have deepened security ties with New Delhi buying Israeli missiles, drones and cyber security infrastructure. Between 2001 and 2021, India spent $4.2 billion on Israeli defence goods.

Some Israeli industries, such as construction, are experiencing labour shortages. In the past few years, thousands of Palestinians have received work permits, while Tel Aviv has reached out to countries like Morocco and China to find additional workers.

Employers can hire foreign workers at wages lower than what they have to pay Israeli citizens, something that authorities want to use to curb inflation.

A Palestinian question

Giving work permits to foreigners is raising eyebrows as tens of thousands of Palestinians remain without work. The unemployment rate in the occupied West Bank is around 16 percent, according to the latest data.

The situation in the Gaza Strip is even direr, as around 46 percent of the Palestinians have no work. An Israeli blockade has crippled the Gazan economy, and even aid can come through only after Tel Aviv’s approval.

In the initial phase, the deal with India includes giving 5,000 permits for construction work and those affiliated with the caregiver industry for the elderly.

“I think the idea is to gradually increase the number of workers of other nationalities and reduce dependence on Palestinians,” says Amer.

Israel keeps tight control over the movement of Palestinians and periodically bans their entry into Israel, extending its influence over the occupied territories.

Most Palestinians with Israeli work permits are employed in the construction sector, where they remain at the mercy of employers who can fire them on minor pretexts.

Yet, the desperation is so rampant that Palestinians often pay $675 per month to middlemen to get their hands on Israeli work permits.

By letting in Palestinian labour, Israel maintains control over the economy of occupied territories and also keeps a check on armed groups resisting the occupation.

Entry bans when tensions flare up can drain Palestinian households of their meagre incomes. It also keeps groups like Hamas, which is in control of the Gaza Strip, from retaliating against Israeli aggression.

This was seen recently when Israel launched air strikes against the Islamic Jihad group, killing 33 Palestinians, but Hamas didn’t join the fight, leaving many to wonder why. Two people were also killed in Israel, including a Gazan who had a permit to work there.

But for 26-year-old Hassan Abu Dukhan, a Palestinian from the occupied West Bank, workers from India and elsewhere are a matter of worry for a different reason.

He’s waiting for his paperwork to complete and will soon start a job at an IT company in Tel Aviv that will pay him $25 per hour.

“In Palestinian territories, I can barely make $3 to $4 an hour. In the best of times, maybe $10,” he tells TRT World.

Indian workers, besides being skilful, often agree to work at lower wages than Dukhan. “That’s my biggest worry.”

However, the geography, the history and the conflict have bound Palestinians and Israelis in a special way, he says.

“There’s a certain way to work and deal with the Jewish people. We, the Palestinians, know Israelis, and they know us. We understand each other. So I don’t think this plan to bring Indian or other nationalities to Israel is going to work.”