Plight of migrant laborers killed, held hostage in Middle East exposes Israel’s reliance on overseas workforce
…The long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict has shaped Israel’s migrant worker history – and has contributed to the globalization of the workforce in the Middle East…
Migrant workers in Israel, like their counterparts the world over, have long since been vulnerable to exploitation.
Many of their origin countries did not demand a commitment to secure their citizens’ rights in the form of a bilateral labor recruitment agreement. And workers migrating via private recruitment channels had to pay thousands of dollars in illegal “sign-up” fees, causing them to begin their journeys deep in debt.
Meanwhile, Israeli government policies have attempted to keep migrants outside of society by confining them to specific industries, obligating them to leave the country upon completion of their labor contract, excluding them from the public health system and prohibiting them from marrying or engaging in romantic relations while in Israel.
And authorities have paid little attention to labor standards, leaving farmworkers, for example, vulnerable to wage theft, terrible housing and exposure to pesticides without proper protection…
Since Oct. 7, Israeli authorities have ended those Palestinians’ work permits and tried to recruit thousands of new workers to the fields and construction sites to make up for the shortfall…