Influx of foreign construction workers begins

Dozens of foreign workers from India’s construction industry arrived in Israel this week as part of agreements signed by various construction manpower organizations.

  (photo credit: MOREG BITAN)
(photo credit: MOREG BITAN)

At the end of February, tests will be conducted in India for another 5,000 foreign workers in preparation for their arrival in Israel.

The entire process of recruiting the foreign workers for the construction industry was carried out with the cooperation and encouragement of the Ministry of Housing under the leadership of the Minister of the Interior Moshe Arbel and the Director General of the Ministry of Housing and Yehuda Morgenstein and the director of the field Michal Aren, and the person in charge of agreements and logistics with the various countries in the world Ariel Partosh.

The Association of Contractors Bonei Ha'aretz gives foreign workers, from India, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan, professional tests for suitability to work in the construction industry in Israel.

Eldad Nitzan, chairman of the Foreign Workers’ Manpower Corporations in the Construction Industry at the Chamber of Commerce, together with representatives of the Ministry of Housing, received the workers from India who are supposed to go to work immediately and save the construction industry, which is in collapse and most of the construction sites are disabled.

Nitzan: "Currently, only about 22,000 foreign workers are employed in the construction industry in Israel and in light of the fact that the Palestinian workers are not working in Israel, the construction industry is in economic collapse and most of the construction sites are closed.

The construction industry immediately needs more agreements to bring in foreign workers in order to reach a situation of 80,000 foreign workers in the construction industry."