The first batch of 60 Indian construction workers left for Israel after an agreement was signed between the two countries to fill the urgent workforce gap that arose after the October 7 Hamas attack.
Israel has been engaging in a six-month-long military operation in Gaza, resulting in the death of more than 33k Palestinians following Hamas’ terror attack on October 7 that killed 1,200 people.
In a post on X on April 2, Israeli envoy to India Naor Gilon hoped that the workers would become ‘ambassadors’ of the great people-to-people relations between the two countries.’
“Today we had a farewell event from the first batch of 60+ Indian construction workers going to Israel under the G2G agreement. This is an outcome of hard work of many, including @NSDCINDIA. I’m sure that the workers become ‘ambassadors’ of the great P2P relations between India and Israel,” Gilon said.
There is no official announcement yet on firming up any government-to-government agreement on the employment of Indian workers in Israel.
Israel has been looking at recruiting 100,000 Indian workers to replace the 90,000 Palestinians whose visas got revoked post the October 7 attack. In May 2023, India signed an agreement with Israel to facilitate 42,000 workers, out of which 32,000 will be used in the mid-eastern construction industry.
is looking at recruiting 100,000 Indian workers to replace the 90,000 Palestinians Last month, India said it is focusing on ensuring the safety and security of all its citizens in Israel in the wake of the death of an Indian in that country in a missile attack reportedly launched by Hezbollah.
“We have over 18,000 caregivers and other professionals in Israel. Their safety and security is of prime concern for us,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said on March 8.
(With PTI inputs)
