According to information from Israel’s leading news website YNet this morning (Monday, Feb. 5th), the discussion focuses on two questions: whether to allow 100,000 Palestinian workers with permits to work in Israel and whether to permit Muslim worshippers from the West Bank to enter Jerusalem during the coming Moslem holiday. The assessment of these security forces is that the month of Ramadan, starting on March 10 this year, may be more volatile than usual due to the Gaza conflict, making these questions critical.
More than 150,000 residents of the Palestinian Authority who worked in Israel in recent years have been jobless since the beginning of the war and are left without any source of income. It is clear that they are in extreme economic distress. Palestinian workers are not entitled to any unemployment benefits or living allowances from Israel or the Palestinian Authority and are left facing the abyss.
The Israeli economy also has no viable alternative to Palestinian workers. Importing foreign workers, as some cabinet ministers suggest is not realistic solution. Preventing the entry of Palestinian workers over time will exacerbate poverty in the Palestinian territories and lead to mounting security tensions. In addition, everyone understands that the massive import of migrant workers creates fertile ground for exploitation, corruption, and adversely affects the wage conditions of all workers in the economy. But no less important is Israel’s duty to ensure the well-being of Palestinian workers who have been part and parcel of the Israeli economy for over 50 years.
MAAN – Workers’ Association maintains close contact with thousands of Palestinian workers with valid work permits in Israel who demand to return to their workplaces. Their employers are also waiting for them as their businesses suffer from a labor shortage. Palestinian workers have no other source of income, and employers have no alternative to these workers.
On December 10 the Israeli government held a discussion on the issue of Palestinian workers. The National Security Council put a plan on the table for the gradual entry of 80,000 Palestinian workers. Although this proposition was based on the assessment of both the Army and the Secret Service (Shabak) it was rejected by right wing ministers and the Government postponed the discussion. It is now 2 months after, and both workers and employers are left in a limbo.
The time has come for the Government to make a bold decision and allow Palestinian workers to return to work for the benefit of all.
For more details see MAAN’s coverage of the topic
https://wac-maan.org.il/return-to-work-2/
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