Disputes Between Barkat and Smotrich Over Increasing the Number of Foreign Workers

Economy Translation SadaNews - The Hebrew economic newspaper Globes reported on Wednesday that a new crisis is looming between Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich regarding foreign labor.

According to the newspaper, as translated by the SadaNews Economy section, a meeting was recently held attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which Barkat proposed a significant increase in the quota for foreign workers across all economic sectors and the abolition of fees imposed on their employment.

According to the newspaper, Smotrich objected and asked Barkat why he was seeking to increase quotas when the current quotas had not been fully utilized. This led Barkat to reject the Israeli finance minister's claims, confirming that all quotas had already been distributed to employers' organizations, but that there were bureaucratic obstacles delaying the arrival of workers to Israel.

Barkat sought to increase the share of foreign workers from 3.3% to 4.1% of the total workforce, which means adding tens of thousands of workers in professions classified as "low-skilled," such as cleaning, dishwashing, and gardening.

At the same time, Barkat proposed abolishing the annual licensing fee, which currently amounts to about 23,000 shekels per worker, as well as eliminating the requirement for foreign workers to deposit their pensions, recommending that all associated costs for accommodation, travel, and fees be included in the minimum wage paid to the worker, which would, in fact, mean receiving a lower wage.

The newspaper stated that if this step is approved, it would bring about a radical change in the foreign labor economy in Israel, bringing it closer to the model implemented in Dubai, as translated by the SadaNews Economy section.

This issue was explicitly raised during a meeting held last week between Barkat and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, where India expressed its readiness to consider implementing the model applied with the UAE in Israel as well, which significantly reduces the cost of employment for the employer, estimated at about a quarter of the cost in Israel.

During the visit of Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal to Israel a month ago, he made it clear to Netanyahu and Barkat that India was prepared to provide a massive number of workers.

In this context, the two countries are close to signing a comprehensive trade agreement.