Will Indian workers replace Palestinians in the construction industry? Nothing is certain for now
In early November, the vice president of the Israeli Builders Association said he was waiting for the government to "import" 50,000 to 100,000 Indians, but nothing concrete has been decided yet. Israel has negotiated similar deals in the past, the latest involving Chinese workers. Its construction industry is the most dangerous sector of the economy. India is boosting its ties with Israel, banning pro-Palestine protests in Kashmir.
New Delhi (AsiaNews) – Is Israel trying to replace Palestinian construction workers with 100,000 Indians after the outbreak of the war against Gaza? No one knows for sure.
Arindam Bagchi, spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, yesterday said that he was not aware of any specific request from Israel in this regard; nevertheless, he acknowledged that the two countries began discussing a long-term initiative in 2022.
In a recent report by the Voice of America, Haim Feiglin, vice president of the Israeli Builders Association, said the industry was "waiting for a decision of the Israeli government" on an agreement with India to hire "50,000 to 100,000 workers” from that country to replace about 90,000 Palestinian workers and “be able to run all sectors and bring it back to normal.”
Palestinians constitute about a quarter of the workforce in Israel’s construction sector, but work permits were suspended after the attack by Hamas against Israel on 7 October.
According to Indian news outlet The Wire, citing sources familiar with the matter, the negotiations between the two countries are still at a preliminary stage. The number of workers is expected to be around 15,000 Indians to replace Palestinian workers. Nothing has been agreed yet.
The two countries sealed a deal earlier this year to bring Indian workers to Israel after Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, signed a memorandum to "import" about 42,000 workers, 34,000 in construction and 8,000 in the caregiving sector.
Arindam Bagchi said that many Indians already in Israel are employed as caregivers. What is more, Delhi has been trying the get mobility agreements with several countries, like the Mobility and Migration Partnership Agreement signed with Italy during External Affairs Minister Jaishankar’s visit to Rome last week.
As in the Italian case, the agreements with Israel on the movement of workers are bringing the two countries closer together. In fact, India has also banned pro-Palestine protests in the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.
The local anti-Indian resistance leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, said that he had been placed under house arrest every Friday (a day of religious observance in Islam) since the beginning of the Gaza war. Friday prayers were also not allowed at a mosque in Srinagar, Kashmir's main city.
In the past, Indian officials have praised Israel's policies in the West Bank as a model to be replicated in the Himalayan territory disputed with Pakistan.
According to Israeli news media, Israeli officials visited Indian training centres back in March, describing local workers as diligent, experienced and fluent in English, a major difference from the Chinese, who were among the first to replace Palestinians in the construction industry.
According to the latest data from China’s Ministry of Commerce, at least 8,206 workers from China were in Israel at the end of 2020.
Beijing and Tel Aviv signed a bilateral agreement in 2017 to increase transparency in the sector after thousands of Chinese found themselves working in Israel in exploitative conditions; yet, activists say that despite the agreement, Chinese workers still face "precarious working conditions".
The construction industry is the most dangerous sector in Israel. A report by Kav LaOved, a non-profit association for workers' rights, notes that in the first half of 2023, at least 40 workers died in work-related accidents, half on construction sites, up by 40 per cent over the same period last year.
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