“The days that Israel will rely on the labor of Palestinian workers are over,” said Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat.
Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat meets with leaders in the business sector in Tel Aviv, Oct. 23, 2023. Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90.
(December 11, 2023 / JNS) Israel’s Socioeconomic Cabinet on Sunday evening voted to recommend not reintroducing tens and thousands of Palestinian workers from Judea and Samaria into the country’s pre-1967 lines.
The measure was reportedly opposed by almost all 15 members of the Socioeconomic Cabinet, which is smaller than the full government but includes the finance and economy ministers. Only Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter and Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur abstained, according to Ynet.
The decision will now be put to a vote in the Security Cabinet, which has the final say in the matter.
Following Sunday’s meeting, Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convene the full Cabinet and have all 30-plus ministers weigh in.
“The reality changed on 7/10 and unfortunately there are those who don’t realize it. The days that Israel will rely on the labor of Palestinian workers are over,” wrote Barkan in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
“Whoever thinks that peace with the Palestinians can be bought with money has not learned lessons from the Black Sabbath [of Oct. 7]. We can’t give any gift to the Palestinians,” said the Likud Party minister.
“I applaud the economic cabinet for voting against bringing in Palestinian workers and now we must act to cut red tape and bring in tens of thousands of workers from other countries as soon as possible,” said Barkan.
Hamas terrorists killed at least 1,200 people and wounded thousands more in a massive offensive launched from the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, which included the firing of thousands of rockets at Israel and the infiltration of the Jewish state by terrorist forces.
Before the Oct. 7 attacks, Israel provided work permits for some 17,000 Palestinians from Gaza to enter Israel. Some of them carried out reconnaissance for Hamas in preparation for the terrorist onslaught.
In addition, thousands of foreign workers have fled Israel since the start of the war, and many Israelis have been called up for reserve duty as the IDF works to destroy Hamas’s terror capabilities in Gaza.
In October, Israel authorized the entry of some 8,000 Palestinian workers from Judea and Samaria in an attempt to offset the “severe” shortage of laborers, an Israeli security source confirmed to JNS.
With the approval of the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), Palestinians have been dispatched to “vital” industrial areas, food factories, medical facilities and burial societies.
Among other places of employment, Palestinians have been brought in to work at a large poultry plant in Jerusalem’s Atarot industrial zone, the source said.
Palestinians from Judea and Samaria have also been hired to work at hotels across Israel, including in some housing evacuees from Israeli towns that Hamas attacked on Oct. 7.
The plan to let in even more Palestinian workers had previously met with opposition from National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
“I am against the entry of thousands of workers from the [Palestinian] Authority who may endanger civilian lives,” he wrote in an Oct. 22 post on X.
Why are they bringing foreigners in to work and compete with the Jews for jobs?
Sounds like the British Mandate – Jewish immigration was impossible “because the land lacks the capacity” while, at the same time, they brought in the Arabs from everywhere around the ME “because of the shortage of laborers”!
Announce in the Diaspora the need to fill certain positions and expedite the aliyah of those who qualify.
Tell the Diaspora Jews the truth for a change instead of fairy tales about a startup nation.
@Felix
I quite agree. The role played by the Pal workers in the Israeli economy was an important caveat of the old Conception. It provided a true symbiotic set of advantages to both the Pals and the Israelis, which must necessarily be ended going forward. The fact that the very politicos who were last elected under the old system chose to block the continuation of this fools based policy provides an important first step towards something new and meaningfully cognizant of the facts as they truly do exist on the ground. Of course, there will be a period of adjustment to overcome the loss of the advantages provided from the prior arrangement, and yet, as Bear demonstrates, the difficulties will not be so indeterminable to bear (sorry, no pun intended), at least for the Israelis. As for the Pals, well, they have made themselves a bed of thorns upon which to slumber, and I wish them every discomfort in recompense for the villainy with which they rewarded their Israeli neighbors and employers as they so surreptitiously and completely mapped out the slaughter which would be brought down on the Otef.
We need to change the way our agriculture is achieved. We have turned Israel into a fertile land that can produce more than enough for all its citizens. If this requires manual labor, that problem needs to be resolved, best by inventing machinery that can do the job the guest workers are currently doing.
This has the potential to be a big turning point.
Israel discussing with Ecuador bringing 25,000 workers into Israel.
10,000 have already come various other countries.
Simply need to organize this with government and a recruiting agency to work out details. It can be a new permanent business.
No more Palestinians change the whole dynamic. If they can not get work they are more likely to emigrate.
It is important that reality be faced and dealt with accordingly. The Israelis held onto hopes of peace with the Palestinians for years despite multiple massacres and deaths of innocent civilians. Finally Israelis have learned once and for all that the Palestinian people have all been indoctrinated to have as their goal the destruction of Israel and death to all the Jews.
That is why it is unsafe for them to be “guest” workers in Israeli towns, villages, and cities.
You cannot have people who chant “from the river to the sea” working in your communities, casing out your homes, etc.
The sad thing is, this was always the reality. But Israelis and in general, Jews and Christians have difficulty fathoming the mindset of those who consider murdering Jews and Christians as sacred acts.
This is what has always made Islamism so deadly: they truly want to murder, and they feel no guilt about it. Whereas Jews and Christians do not want to murder, feel intense guilt about it, and will do anything they can to NOT hurt a Muslim.
There are Muslims who want to live in peace with Jews and Christians, Mudar Zahran is one, and this man is one:
https://twitter.com/hahussain/status/1722340967091437632
But the Palestinians have been indoctrinated from childhood on to WANT to kill Jews. They have dehumanized Jews to the point that they feel heroic for killing Jews, as if they have stamped out a plague.
They cannot be welcomed as a guest into Israeli land, now that Israelis finally have understood the mentality and the true meaning of Islam.
Very Hard learned lessons.
Import more Jews (aliyah).
If not enough Jews bring non-Muslims to help with the work. Not Palestinians and not Jordanians like has been done in Eilat hotels.