The Prime Minister’s Office announced that the cabinet will hear a proposal on Sunday for a limited pilot program for the renewal of entry permits for Palestinian workers to Israel.
The announcement, made on Tuesday, denied reports by Israeli media that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee (FADC) that he had approved a pilot program for the return of Palestinian workers in the construction sector.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu did not approve any pilot regarding the introduction of Palestinian workers to Israel,” said the PMO. “On the contrary, Prime Minister Netanyahu is the one who this week promoted the entry of foreign workers from overseas.”
“Regarding the Palestinian workers, at the request of the security officials for a limited pilot, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that this will be presented for a preliminary discussion before the Cabinet,” added the PMO.
Likud MKs express outrage at proposal to bring back Palestinian workers
The reports that Netanyahu was considering allowing Palestinian workers to start entering Israel again sparked outrage among members of the prime minister’s Likud party.
Economy Minister Nir Barkat warned that allowing Palestinian workers to return would be a “grave mistake,” noting that “170,000 workers from peaceful countries are just waiting for a government decision to arrive, and they do not pose any risk to the citizens of Israel.”
“Do not repeat the mistake that preceded October 7th by bringing in Palestinians who receive a million dollars for murdering a Jew. You can’t buy security peace with money,” he said.
Likud MK Dan Illouz, a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, also expressed outrage at the proposed pilot program, saying, “Pilot?’ Once the dam opens, there will be no going back. We all know how temporary becomes permanent becomes a disaster.”
“On the seventh of October, we decided that we would free ourselves from the addiction to the Palestinian workers and that we would find alternatives. Yes, breaking free from addiction is not easy, but you must not give up because giving up is dangerous.”
“Instead of making an unequivocal long-term decision not to accept Palestinian workers, a decision that would allow building a proper alternative that would bring foreign workers here and provide a real solution to the economy, they continue to propose dangerous experiments that harm the ability to develop a real alternative. It is forbidden to go in this direction,” Ilouz warned.
Likud MK Moshe Sa’ada responded to the reports as well, saying, “What does pilot mean? We’ll see if Jews are murdered and then we’ll decide whether to continue with this stupidity or stop it once and for all?
“If the report is true, I call on the prime minister to stop this decision and not surrender to the ‘defense experts.’ The lack of working hands can be easily solved with the help of foreign workers who are already standing in line and interested in coming here,” said Saada. “We must not go back to October 6, and we must not make ‘experiments’ at the expense of the lives of Israeli citizens.”
Palestinian workers from the West Bank and Gaza, who make up a large portion of the workforce in the construction and agriculture sectors in Israel, were placed under a sweeping entry ban after the October 7 massacre.
The ban has harmed both the Israeli and Palestinian economies, with the Bank of Israel governor telling the World Economic Forum in January that a third of the construction industry in Israel is Palestinians from the West Bank.
Over 150,000 Palestinian workers from the West Bank entered Israel daily before October 7.
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