10,000 Indian construction workers to reach Israel soon in batches starting next week

Approximately 10,000 laborers from India are scheduled to arrive in Israel starting next week, according to industry sources on Wednesday. Israel’s construction industry is currently experiencing a severe workforce shortage following the fighting with Hamas on October 7.

According to a source with the Israel Builders Association (IBA), these 10,000 workers will arrive in stages of 700–1,000 every week, PTI reported here.

The Israeli construction industry has been in severe crisis due to Israel’s most recent conflict with Hamas in Gaza, which lasted for just under four months. In addition, there has been a ban on the entry of Palestinian workers and the departure of several thousand other foreign workers. As a result, several ongoing projects are either stalled or delayed.

Israel forbade the entry of Palestinian laborers after the battle. The Israeli construction industry has been in severe distress since thousands of other foreign workers left.

Israeli business daily The Calcalist in a report in Hebrew last week said that the quota of foreign manpower for the construction industry has been increased from 30,000 to 50,000 and that the Israeli government last month approved the arrival of 10,000 workers from

Izchak Gurvitz, the head of the association’s workers’ issues division, and Igal Slovik, the CEO of IBA, oversee the selection process.

There are presently rumors that Israel’s Ministry of Housing and Construction is developing a plan to add 10,000 more jobs through the private track.

As a result, the industry will employ 60,000 foreign workers overall, up from the current quota of 50,000.

In a December phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “discussed advancing the arrival of foreign workers from India to the State of Israel.”

During his April visit to India, Israel’s Minister of Economy, Nir Barkat, discussed employing Indians in a number of fields, including construction, with representatives and his counterpart in New Delhi.

Subsequently, the talks focused on bringing in about 160,000 people from different industries.

Approximately 18,000 Indians labor in Israel, primarily in caregiving roles. Because “they felt quite secure” and “also because the salaries are quite attractive,” the majority of them made the decision to remain in Israel and did not flee the nation during the conflict.

In May of last year, during the visit of then Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen to New Delhi, Israel and India also signed an agreement allowing 42,000 Indian workers to work in the Jewish state in the construction and nursing fields. At the time, this move was seen as a way “to help deal with the rising cost of living and assist thousands of families waiting for nursing care.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry subsequently issued a statement stating that an additional 8,000 workers will be needed for nursing needs and 34,000 workers would be working in the construction industry.

(With agency inputs)