More than 85,000 foreign workers have entered Israel since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre ended the Jewish state’s reliance on Palestinian labor, the country’s Immigration and Population Authority announced Tuesday.
The data point to “a significant effort to address the labor shortage that emerged after Oct. 7, particularly in the construction sector, which has been hit hard since the start of the war,” the government body stated.
Some 86,000 workers have arrived in the Jewish state during the Swords of Iron war, which began almost 22 months ago, according to the press release. In addition, the Foreign Workers Administration managed to convince 11,000 agricultural laborers who had fled the war to return to Israel.
Most foreign workers—some 50%—found work in Israel’s construction sector, followed by the nursing profession (17%) and the agricultural industry (16%), the Immigration and Population Authority stated.
The list of countries of origin was led by India, with 24,880 workers who arrived in Israel, followed by Sri Lanka (15,284) and Thailand (14,423).
“Today, the number of foreign workers across all sectors is higher than before the war,” according to the Immigration and Population Authority.
Before the Oct. 7 attacks, some 190,000 Palestinians, nearly all from Judea and Samaria but some from the Gaza Strip, were employed in Israel. More than 95,000 of them worked in the construction sector.
Hamas murdered around 1,200 people, including foreign workers, in a massive attack launched from the Strip on Oct. 7, which included the firing of thousands of rockets and the infiltration of thousands of terrorists into Israel.
Following the outbreak of war, thousands of foreign workers fled Israel, while Jewish laborers were called up for military reserve duty, leading to a situation where half of the construction sites have been closed down.
In late October 2023, Jerusalem authorized the entry of 8,000 Arabs from Judea and Samaria amid a severe shortage of labor. With the approval of security services, they were dispatched to “vital” industrial areas, food factories, medical facilities and burial societies, an official told JNS.
Subsequent proposals to let in even more Palestinian workers have been met with dismay by coalition and opposition lawmakers alike.
In a December 2023 meeting, the solution was opposed by almost all 15 members of Israel’s Socioeconomic Cabinet, which is smaller than the full government but includes the finance and economy ministers.
“Letting workers from the territory of an enemy population into Israel during a war is a terrible mistake that will cost blood,” Gideon Sa’ar, currently Israel’s foreign minister, said at the time.
