Occupied JerusalemIsraeli reports unanimously agreed that preventing the employment of Palestinian workers in Israel would lead to the collapse of the Palestinian economy and increase the security risks to Israel with the escalation of tension and state of boiling in the occupied West Bank since the outbreak of the war on Gaza.
Before the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle on October 7, about 109,000 Palestinian workers from the West Bank and more than 20,000 from the Gaza Strip worked in Israel, under work permits issued by the Israeli authorities, in addition to thousands of Palestinians who worked in the Israeli market without permits. .
Israeli estimates confirmed that continuing to prevent Palestinians from entering work will have negative repercussions and harm the Israeli economy, which also depends on the Palestinian economy and markets. This will also inflict huge losses on vital work sectors such as agriculture and undermine the construction sector, which faces challenges and losses as a result of the current war.
The economic newspaper “De Marker” devoted its reports to the Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s continued prevention of Palestinian entry and employment in the Israeli labor market, and highlighted the repercussions of this on the Palestinian economy and its negative impact on the Israeli economy as well.
The newspaper believes that the decision to prevent the employment of Palestinians and the recruitment of foreign workers smells like corruption and bribery for companies active in the field, noting that reports indicate that Palestinian workers are more efficient than foreign workers by all standards and levels.
Attachment and dependence
To discuss the mutual relationship between the Israeli and Palestinian economies, Professor Zvi Eckstein at the Faculty of Economics at Reichmann University headed a public committee years ago that dealt with the complex question: What does Israel gain from 5 million Palestinians, 3 million of whom live in the West Bank under the rule of the Palestinian Authority? How does their livelihood affect the economy and security of Israel’s citizens?
Eckstein’s answer in the report of the “Committee for Regulating, Supervising and Implementing the Employment of Palestinian Workers in Israel” – which was submitted to the Israeli government – was that the Palestinian labor market is integrated into the Israeli labor market, and that they depend on each other, and that the Israeli economy and labor market are linked to the Palestinians on the one hand. Labor and consumption.
Regarding this reality and the Israeli dependence on Palestinian labor, Eckstein says, “The sounds of frustration from Israeli contractors and farmers show their great dependence on Palestinian workers, and at the same time, the matter is extremely important on the Palestinian side as well.”
In addition to the positive impact on the economy in the West Bank and the stability of the Palestinian Authority, the head of the “Aron” Institute says, “There are also important effects on the Israeli economy, which needs Palestinian workers due to the agricultural and construction sectors relying heavily on them.”
Control and control
In light of these developments and economic challenges, Haaretz newspaper devoted its opening speech on Tuesday to the decision of the “Social Economic Cabinet” to prevent the entry of Palestinian workers into the Israeli labor market and to accelerate the procedures for bringing in foreign workers, as it called for canceling this decision and resuming the entry of Palestinians from the West Bank to work in Israel. With the establishment of control mechanisms and a monitoring system for their entry.
The newspaper points out that it is understandable that the security concerns that increased after last October 7 can be understood, but it continued, “But this does not justify the continuation of this policy, which could cause a serious economic crisis in the West Bank, and result in a deterioration of the security situation, and preventing their entry harms the economy.” Israeli too.
“Haaretz” points out that Israel has created an economic dependency on it in the West Bank, so preventing the entry of Palestinian workers means – according to the newspaper – “economic disengagement” without offering an alternative, which is in fact a kind of siege.
The newspaper says that in the midst of the war, “the issue of approving the entry of workers from the West Bank is indeed more complex than it was in normal times, but turning the West Bank into a pressure cooker due to unemployment and frustration may turn out to be a mistake and its consequences will be dire.”
Economic and security
Commenting on the “Cabinet’s” decision not to allow Palestinians to enter to work in Israel, economic affairs analyst Merav Arlozorov in “De Marker” newspaper believes that this decision comes in violation of Israel’s commitment to its agreements with the Palestinian Authority, which require the employment of workers from the West Bank in the Israeli labor market, and therefore The decision reflects the Israeli government’s perception that “there is no Palestinian people between the sea and the river.”
Arlozorov explained that as of last October 7, about 130,000 Palestinians were working in Israel with permits, and an unknown number of others, estimated at tens of thousands, were without permits, and most of the Palestinians were working in the fields of construction and agriculture.
She pointed out that estimates indicate that the employment of Palestinian workers in Israel is responsible for 15% of the Palestinian GDP, meaning that without work in Israel, the Authority’s economy will collapse.
Arlozorov says that the option of bringing in foreign workers is the worst of all, as “it takes a long time to bring in foreign workers, as Israel is seen as being under security risks due to the war, and any proposal to bring in foreign workers raises serious suspicions of corruption.” Over the years, it has been tainted by the collection of prohibited fees and the payment of illegal bribes worth billions of shekels annually, and in practice it is a form of human trafficking.”
Chaos and hassle
The same proposal was adopted by Hezi Sternlicht, a correspondent for the economic newspaper “Globus”, who reviewed in his report the reality of workers in the construction sector in Israel in light of the ban on the entry of Palestinian workers.
Sternlicht pointed out that foreign workers – including construction workers from China – are asking for a double daily wage of up to $500, which has created a state of chaos and quarrels among contractors, some of whom were forced to pay such wages in order to complete the construction projects they are undertaking.
He explained that the war on Gaza turned the slowdown in the real estate sector into a real crisis, saying that contractors are quarreling with each other due to a significant shortage of workers, and many construction workshops in Israel are idle for the third month in a row and are incurring losses.
