Replacing Palestinian construction workers in Israel with workers from India

Construction firms in Israel say they have asked the government to allow them to hire up to 100,000 Indian workers to replace Palestinians who lost their work permits when the war began. VOA correspondent Yan Boechat reports that according to builders, nearly 90,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza worked in the construction sector in Israel.

In early October, work was buzzing in construction facilities for a new project near Tel Aviv, including three apartment buildings.

The complex's owners say 180 units sold for nearly $1 million each and were preparing to turn them over to buyers.

But Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, sparking the war with Israel.

Suddenly, the workers left, mostly Palestinians.

Israel Builders Association vice president Haim Feiglin says that because of the war, Israeli companies and the government did not allow Palestinians to return to work.

"The situation of the construction sector is already very complicated. We are at war and Palestinian workers, who make up almost 25% of the human resources in this sector, are not coming to work. They are neither trying to come nor are they allowed to work in Israel ," says Mr. Feiglin.

Even in other cities of Israel, most of the constructions have stopped.

Mr. Feiglin says that mayors are being asked to allow construction to resume when builders have hired new workers from non-Arab countries.

Israeli builders are hoping to attract foreign workers to replace more than 90,000 Palestinians who worked in construction before the war began and who have already had their work permits revoked or are not allowed to come to work.

The Israeli Builders Association says 10% of them were Palestinian workers from Gaza and the rest from the West Bank.

But now, Mr. Feiglin says he no longer sees a future for Palestinian workers in Israel.

"We are now negotiating with India. We are waiting for an approval from the Israeli government, and we hope to engage 50-100 thousand workers from India to get the sector back up and running ," he says.

About 140,000 Palestinians from the West Bank were working with and without documents in Israel before the war began, says Samir Huleileh, an economist and former minister in the Palestinian Authority.

"It's devastating, it's a disaster. It will be accompanied by poverty, and other reactions. And of course it will depend on how we will end this war" , he says.

In many villages, men who once worked in Israel, like Isa Zeita in Ramallah, are waiting to see what happens next.

"I come to drink a coffee in the morning and sit with my friends. I go home for lunch, and come back here to play cards ," says Isai.

He has not worked since the day Hamas attacked Israel and his employer told him not to come to work.

The Israel Builders' Association says the facilities where construction continues are being operated mostly with Chinese workers.

The builders say that the only way to return to normal operation is to hire people from other countries./ VOA