The government approved bringing 92 thousand foreign workers to Israel, most of them for agriculture

The committee of CEOs on the issue of foreign workers headed by CEO of the Prime Minister’s Office Yossi Shelli approved the bringing of 92 thousand workers to the branches of the economy. In the announcement there was no reference to the question of whether the workers would arrive within the framework of bilateral agreements, agreements between countries that contribute to preserving the rights of workers and preventing their exploitation.

The committee chaired by the Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office met this week for the fourth time since it was established about a month ago, under the direction of Netanyahu. This is with the aim of discussing the foreign worker quotas for the agriculture, industry, hotels and restaurants sectors.

The committee decided to allocate 65,000 permits to bring in foreign workers to the agricultural sector, which in the past was also based on many Palestinian workers from Judea and Samaria, and has faced a severe shortage of manpower since the beginning of the war and the curfew on the territories. If 85% of the quota is realized, the government is expected to approve bringing in 5,000 additional workers to this industry.

According to the committee’s decision, 13,200 permits for foreign workers were allocated to the industrial sector, which faces significant shortages mainly in professional workers in various fields. The hotel industry was allocated 6,800 permits.

For the restaurant industry, 2,000 foreign workers were approved for the first time.

Following the committee’s decision, Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter announced a change to the permit model in the industry, so that every farmer can hire foreign workers according to his needs and abilities. In a letter sent by the director general of the office, Oren Lavi, he stated that the office has committed to the realization of at least 18,000 more permits for foreign workers, in addition to the 37,000 workers already employed in the industry, in order to ensure that the quota of foreign workers in the industry remains constant.

“‘Hands working in agriculture’ is one of the four factors of production that the minister set as a goal to act on since we entered the ministry about a year and a half ago,” Lavi wrote, “in order to allow farmers to do more farming, and with more certainty and security. The duty of proof is on us as a ministry to realize the quota in the coming year that we received”.

The Israel Farmers’ Association welcomed the decision. “This is an important decision that strengthens the farmers in Israel,” said the chairman of the Israel Farmers’ Association and the secretary general of the Moshavim movement, Amit Yafarah and the association’s secretary general Uri Zorman.

The committee stated that this is good news for the sectors of the economy that are expecting the missing workforce.