Israel’s unenviable choice

The extraordinary security measures at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv are glaringly obvious to any visitor familiar with this entry point to the Jewish State.

Electronic surveillance mounted on walls and ceilings supplements the human intelligence (humint) of elite Israeli military personnel on 24-hour guard against terrorists.

Back in 1972, it was a Japanese terrorist group that took Israelis unawares when they opened fire in the airport arrivals hall, killing and injuring dozens. Kozo Okamoto, Tsuyoshi Okudaira, and Yasuyuki Yasuda killed 26 and injured 80 others before Okamoto was wounded and captured and the other two killed. 

Ever since, Israelis have learned to rely purely upon themselves for safety and security at the airport and border crossings. Yet, in the past few months, this has suddenly changed with an unexpected recruitment of foreign nationals entrusted with airport law and order, including the safety of passengers.

Witness the many Indian men and women, specifically hired for airport duties, who now roam freely across departure and arrival halls. They are part of the airport’s overall protection infrastructure, and their duties range from cleaning duties to checking documents to making sure that each passenger joins the correct queue.

Israeli estimates are of at least 20,000 Indians working all across the country, from restaurant cleaners to care workers and construction and farm personnel. From the colour of their skin and the ‘bindi’ dots on their foreheads to the languages they speak, and sometimes the dress they wear -- usually variants of kurta-pyjamas -- they are easily distinguished from the local population.

Currently, Indians are easily the most popular foreign nationals living in Israel. They are widely viewed as friendly, hardworking men and women who pose no security threat to the Jews. In fact, the Indians are so overwhelmingly popular that there are calls to import at least another 160,000 of them for deployment in hospitals and construction sites.

Israel’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Nir Barkat, is the driving force behind the plan to invite still more Indians. Shortly after the Israel-Hamas war started in October, Barkat demanded urgent government action to bring over the magic number of at least 160,000 Indians that he believes will make such a difference to the Israeli economy.

This urgent need for more foreign workers follows a ban on the entry of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza who previously worked across a variety of sectors within Israel. The overwhelming majority have been frozen out since the war started and they are unlikely to be permitted to return, being seen as security threats. 

Sources within Barkat’s ministry say the economy has effectively been paralysed since October 7 and there is a pressing need for specific numbers of additional workers. They are listed as 80,000 for construction, 15,000 for agriculture, 22,000 for industry and 24,000 for restaurants and other random employment outlets.

The crisis in the hitherto flourishing restaurant industry alone is so severe that the salary of a humble  dishwasher is estimated at more than $5,000 per month.

Preliminary discussions for bringing in more Indians started when Barkat visited India earlier in the year, long before the Gaza war started. Now, as the war shows no sign of stopping, the need for Indian labour is even more intense.

Even if the war stopped tomorrow, the mood within Israel has changed so dramatically that it would be close to impossible to find local companies willing to take the risk of ever employing any Palestinians ever again. Within Israel, there is speculation about how Hamas deliberately infiltrated militants posing as labourers to gather security information about the location of police stations and army bases, purely to facilitate subsequent attacks.

To further his objectives, Barkat has in recent weeks asked cabinet colleagues to authorise the opening up of the economy to foreigners with the specific aim of excluding Palestinians.

“There is an urgent need for foreign labourers to ensure the economy does not collapse”, Barkat was quoted as telling Israel Hayom, a right-of-centre newspaper published from Tel Aviv. “They will also be needed to help revive the economy in the post-war era.”

Last month, two Israeli experts published a paper titled, “India is the solution”, where they openly demanded the employment of Indian labourers and other workers to be used as substitutes for Palestinians. “Decision-makers in Jerusalem should simply cut the dependence on Palestinian labourers who constitute a security threat to Israelis”, wrote Oshrit Birodkr and Uri Vartman at the Jerusalem Institute for Security and Strategy (JISS).

“Decision-makers need to understand that India is a cornerstone for implementing the plan to stop relying on Palestinian workers. Relations between India and Israel have significantly improved over the past decade and we should reap the benefits.”

If Birodkr and Vartman’s hopes are realised, this will be nothing short of a disaster for hungry Palestinians who are currently suffering from high rates of unemployment and poverty. They cannot be absorbed by the Palestinian economy which has been further undermined by the Gaza war.

Israeli security experts argue that some Palestinians from the West Bank, at least, should be allowed to work within Israel. They warn that a dramatic increase in West Bank unemployment will increase the incentive to carry out terrorist attacks from those who have nothing to lose.

According to Ynet, the country’s largest online news website, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet, supports the prospect of re-employing Palestinian labourers. “This could otherwise be like a pressure pot that explodes in our own faces,” unnamed Israeli security officials told the website. “The workers are sitting at home, they are bitter and frustrated because they cannot provide for their families.”

What happens to Palestinian workers is no longer a purely security issue. It is also political. Earlier this month, an uproar erupted within the Israeli cabinet when talk started about the possibility of allowing Palestinian labourers to enter Israel. Extreme right minister Itamar Ben Gvir told his cabinet colleagues, “These (Palestinian) workers collaborated and passed on information to Hamas terrorists. Allowing them to enter Israel means bringing in young Palestinian men indoctrinated by militant ideology. We must not repeat the mistakes of the past.”

Still another issue that Israel needs to face is the need to reassure any foreign labourer planning to take up employment in Israel. At least 39 Thai farm workers, 10 students from Nepal, seven construction workers from China and six care-givers from Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Moldova, were killed by Hamas in October. Several others were kidnapped and taken to Gaza. Since then, several thousands of other foreigners have fled Israel. Encouraging them to return, or embracing the unthinkable by inviting back Palestinians is the unenviable choice that faces Israel today.

(The writer is a former Foreign Editor, Deccan Herald, a former Middle East correspondent of the London Observer, and the author of Bullets and Bylines)