From Emergency Measure to Entrenched Policy
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli government’s decision to seal the crossings and block Palestinian workers from entering Israel has evolved from a temporary emergency step into an entrenched policy. Approximately 200,000 workers from the West Bank—around 120,000 of whom held permits to work in Israel and another 40,000 employed in settlements and 40,000 others employed through temporary arrangements — found themselves overnight without a livelihood.
What was introduced as a short-term security necessity has become a new economic and social reality lasting nearly two and a half years, with far-reaching consequences for both societies.
The conference, initiated by MAAN Workers Association and hosted by the Migration and Demography Community of the Israeli Sociological Society, brought together researchers, legal experts, and worker representatives to examine the implications of this policy.
The discussion highlighted the principal harms:
- Severe damage to the Palestinian workers and the entire PA economy
- Mounting losses to the Israeli economy
- Serious doubts regarding the security rationale
- A growing number of palestinian workers who enter Israel without permits risking their detention, injuries and even death.
- A sharp rise in exploitative employment practices involving migrant workers
The event was moderated by Dr. Yahel Kurlander of Tel-Hai College, whose research focuses on the condition of migrant workers in Israel.
An Emergency Measure Is Not a Policy
Assaf Adiv, Executive Director of MAAN Workers Association, argued that the closure of the crossings has effectively become permanent policy without proper public or professional debate. Hundreds of thousands of families in the West Bank, he said, have been left without any income or safety net, while Israel’s construction sector—and other industries—have suffered losses amounting to tens of billions of shekels.
Despite the official ban, tens of thousands of West Bank workers reportedly enter Israel each day through breaches in the separation barrier or by using forged permits. Economic desperation, Adiv noted, pushes people to risk exploitation, arrest, and even gunfire. At the same time, Israeli employers—including those living in southern and conflict-affected areas—continue to maintain contact with their former workers, and some even provide financial assistance, recognizing that in the long term these workers are likely to return.
Since November 2023, approximately 15,000 workers have resumed employment in settlements, without significant security incidents. Hotels in Israel also employed Palestinian workers after the war, until they were instructed to replace them with migrant workers—despite the absence of any security incident that would justify such a move.
These facts, Adiv argued, undermine the claim that preventing Palestinian workers from entering Israel is driven by security considerations.
He called for regulating workers’ status through a “green card” model—an individual permit based on security clearance but not tied to a specific employer—thereby allowing labor mobility and reducing extortion and permit trafficking, both of which characterized the previous system (For all Adiv’s intervention, see below)
Palestinian Workers Have the Right to Work in Israel
Professor Kenneth Mann of Tel Aviv University, a co-founder of LEAP—an organization that assists Palestinians facing arbitrary revocation of work permits—presented the legal perspective.
Israeli court rulings have repeatedly stated that Palestinians have no vested right to enter Israel and work there. However, Prof. Mann argued that alternative legal foundations exist.
Under international law governing occupation, a controlling power bears an ongoing obligation to ensure the welfare of the population under its control. In addition, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Israel is a signatory, recognizes both the right to work and the right to fair working conditions. Taken together, these principles provide a legal basis for arguing that Israel has a duty to enable employment, subject to individualized, evidence-based security considerations.
LEAP has previously assisted approximately 800 workers annually and succeeded in overturning permit revocations in about 70% of cases by invoking principles of administrative law, including the right to a hearing, reasoned decisions, and due process. Nonetheless, Mann assessed that the likelihood of success in Israeli courts is currently low, and therefore efforts should also be directed toward international forums.
Security Data: Myth Versus Reality
Professor Esteban Klor of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) presented empirical data.
On the eve of the war, approximately 170,000 West Bank workers and another 20,000 workers from Gaza were employed in Israel. Wages earned in Israel were significantly higher and constituted a central engine of growth for the Palestinian economy. Following the war, unemployment in the West Bank surged to approximately 30%, accompanied by declining wages and reduced labor force participation. Palestinian GDP has fallen by roughly 25% since the outbreak of the war.
Regarding Israel, Prof. Klor noted that in October 2023 around 100,000 Palestinian workers were employed in the construction sector, which accounts for 10% of Israel’s GDP. The daily cost of employing a construction worker rose from 800 to 1,200 shekels, causing substantial harm to both private construction and public infrastructure projects.
Prof. Klor’s research also challenges security claims used to justify excluding Palestinian workers. In a 2024 study examining the relationship between the number of permit-holding workers entering Israel and the number of terror attacks within the Green Line between 2007 and October 2023, he found that of the 153 Israelis killed in attacks during that period, only three attacks were carried out by workers who held valid permits. The overwhelming majority of fatalities were linked to rocket fire from Gaza or attacks carried out by residents of East Jerusalem and not to workers with valid permits.
These findings demonstrate that permit-holding Palestinian workers have posed only a marginal security risk. Replacing them with migrant workers, he warned, is a misguided policy that will inflict long-term damage on the Israeli economy.
Mounir Kleibo: The Palestinian Workers’ Issue Is Inherently Political
Mr. Mounir Kleibo, a Jerusalem-based expert on labour market issues and workers’ rights, delivered an intervention grounded in objective criteria aimed at identifying conditions that can safeguard Palestinian workers’ rights and prevent the severe exploitation and violations they often face. He emphasized that the current crisis did not begin with the closure imposed in October 2023, but rather reflects structural problems that have accumulated over decades, during which no stable and dignified system was developed to regulate the employment of large numbers of Palestinian workers in Israel.
Mr. Kleibo, who served for nearly two decades as the Representative of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in the Palestinian territories and previously held a senior position at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), noted that the Palestinian labour market has become heavily dependent on the Israeli economy. On the eve of the war, approximately 200,000 workers from the West Bank were employed in Israel, in addition to around 20,000 workers from Gaza, creating a sense of relative stability. However the collapse of this arrangement, following the complete closure imposed after 7 October 2023, has resulted in deep economic, social, and psychological consequences affecting more than one million people who depend directly or indirectly on these sources of income.
He also expressed regret that international efforts, including the annual reports issued by the ILO on the situation of Palestinian workers, have not yet resulted in tangible improvements in their conditions, particularly at a time when workers are facing one of the most difficult periods due to the war and related political considerations.
Finally, Mr. Kleibo noted that the vast majority of Palestinian workers seek above all dignified employment and the ability to provide for their families, rather than confrontation. He also warned about the potential emergence of informal brokerage networks and exploitation schemes on both sides of the border that may profit from the current disorder, emphasizing that transparent and legally regulated labour arrangements ultimately serve the interests of workers while also responding to broader economic and security needs.
For Mr. Kleibo's full intervention, see here:
Mounir Kleibo: The Palestinian Workers’ Issue Is Inherently Political
Between Capitalism and Ethno-Nationalism
Dr. Maayan Niezna of the University of Liverpool, who co-authored research with Dr. Kurlander on the recruitment of migrant workers as substitutes for Palestinian labor, analyzed the ideological underpinnings of the current policy. A link to the research
According to Dr. Niezna, the policy rests on three interlocking layers:
- Capitalist (the demand for cheap, flexible labor)
- Colonial (economic and political control)
- Ethno-national (a distinction between Jews and others, emphasizing the temporary nature of migration)
Since the outbreak of the war, she argued, bilateral agreements designed to prevent excessive brokerage fees and debt bondage have been neglected. Workers are now recruited under highly vulnerable conditions, heavily dependent on their employers and at constant risk of losing legal status.
In the long term, she warned, this policy may also harm Israeli workers in already weakened sectors. Despite the increase in migrant labor, the government continues to struggle to replace Palestinian workers in construction. Contractors report dissatisfaction, and labor shortages persist.
Palestinian Voices from the Ground
Mohammad Naeem, who worked in Israel for 13 years, described the personal and familial collapse he has experienced since the crossings were closed. Workers uninvolved in violence, he said, are paying the price. Some risk illegal entry simply to provide for their children.
Ashraf Shalalfa, a labor activist who also lost his job following the October 2023 closure, stressed that unemployment rates in the West Bank have reached unprecedented levels. Using workers as a political pressure tool, he argued, harms both economies.
Where Do We Go from Here?
The discussion did not yield immediate solutions, but it outlined clear conclusions: the blanket exclusion of Palestinian workers is not grounded in a solid security basis; it deepens the economic crisis in the West Bank and creates incentives for irregular entry; and it pushes Israel toward problematic models of migrant labor recruitment.
Whether a different government emerges or not, the issue is not solely a matter of security. It concerns the fate of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who, without access to work in Israel, are left without a viable economic foundation. It shapes the structure of Israel’s labor market. And it carries broader implications for the possibility of ending the conflict through the gradual reconstruction of civilian life on both sides of the fence.
This report is based on recordings of the speakers and was prepared by the MAAN staff.
