Interior minister urges employing Palestinians in the construction industry

On Monday, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel addressed the issue of the return of Palestinian workers in a discussion at the committee for foreign workers, stating: "I have asked the prime minister to check the employment of Palestinian workers from Judea and Samaria in the construction industry. There are workers who enter without a permit, and this leads to disasters like the attack in Gan Yavne." 

Arbel further explained, "An entire industry cannot be allowed to collapse. We are working to bring in workers from foreign countries, but we still need additional working hands and this must be considered. If not, we will pay with compound interest in the future for a lack of housing units." 

Several months ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about a pilot to bring in Palestinian workers under certain conditions, later denying it amid widespread opposition from ministers like National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

During the Real Estate Center Conference in Eilat, Raul Sargo, president of the Bonei Ha'aretz Contractors Association, remarked that if the finance minister had invested in bringing in foreign workers by a tenth of what he invests in opposing the employment of Palestinians in the construction industry, we would no longer need Palestinian workers. 

 Transportation Minister Miri Regev recently added her voice to the opposition, stating, "The time has come for us not to depend on Palestinian workers. It cannot be that every time there is a crisis of one kind or another, the economy stops. We need to bring in foreign workers at reasonable prices without monopolies.

"I was in Sri Lanka and saw what was happening, and you can't tell me stories," she said. "There are 100,000 workers in Sri Lanka and India who are ready to come to Israel. We need to stop the bureaucracy and bring them as quickly as possible. You can also lower the price of labor per day; there is no reason to pay a worker NIS 1,500 per day."

And about this it is said: talk is like sand...