Ban on Palestinian workers could cost Israel economy billions: Minister

File: Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli far right minister of Finance. The Israeli government’s decision to prohibit the entry of most Palestinian workers from the West Bank since October 7 could cost the economy billions of shekels a month if it continues, according to the Finance Ministry. The Israeli economy is expected to shrink by 2% this quarter due to the war with Hamas, leading to a spike in unemployment. 

According to an article in the Times of Israel , the Israeli government’s decision to prohibit the entry of most Palestinian workers from the West Bank since October 7 could cost the economy billions of shekels a month if it continues, according to the Finance Ministry.

“We calculated what the economic damage would be if Palestinians do not go to work…and it is estimated at approximately NIS 3 billion ($830 million) per month,” a ministry representative told the Knesset Committee on Foreign Workers on Monday.

Since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, more than 150,000 West Bank Palestinian laborers who usually enter Israel for work have largely been unable to do so, according to the report

Furthermore , over 10,000 foreign workers, primarily from Thailand, fled the country following the attack and media reports have said that Israel may need more than 30,000 foreign workers to fill the labor gap, which has been exacerbated by the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of Israeli reservists for the war against Hamas.

For the above reasons last week, it was announced that between 8,000 and 10,000 Palestinian laborers from the West Bank will return to their jobs in Israeli West Bank settlements and businesses, the Israeli daily added

“We are in very dire straits,” Raul Sargo, president of the Israel Builders Association, told the Knesset committee on Monday. “The industry is at a complete standstill and is only 30 percent productive. Fifty percent of the sites are closed and there is an impact on Israel’s economy and the housing market.”

“The State of Israel must decide whether it is assisted by Palestinian hands or not,” Likud MK Eliyahu Revivo, chairman of foreign workers committee, declared. “As long as no solutions are provided, the state is still dependent on Palestinian workers. The government is dragging its feet on this issue.”