Rebuilding Israel's Bankrupt Economy with Indian Workers

TEHRAN (Defapress) - According to the Indian government's announcement, at least 20,000 of these workers have been sent to occupied Palestine since the start of the war in Gaza (from November 2023 to July 2025). Part of these migrations has taken place under a bilateral agreement signed between the two countries in November 2023. According to his agreement, 6,730 construction workers and 44 caregivers have entered the occupied territories through this route. In addition, about 7,000 more caregivers and 6,400 construction workers have gone to Israel through private contractors.

The ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has not only affected the Israeli economy but has also led to a severe labor shortage in various sectors, especially in construction, with the revocation of work permits for more than 70,000 Palestinians. This shortage has led to the halting of projects and increased costs, to the extent that the Israeli Builders Association in November 2023 asked its government to attract workers from India.

Meanwhile, Indian labor unions such as the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) have opposed this trend, describing it as a "suicidal project" and believing that it poses great risks to life and hardship for workers. “If private contractors are transporting workers from India to Israel and the Indian government has no structure to monitor or stop it, it means they don’t care about their people or Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza,” Clifton D'Rozario, the national vice-president of the All India Central Council Trade Unions, told Middle East Eye. He also warned that these policies were gradually weakening India’s moral standing in support of Palestinian liberation.

However, recruitment agencies such as Dynamic Staffing Services, which has sent thousands of construction workers to Israel, see the migration as an opportunity for workers, with salaries nearly three times higher than what they would earn in India. The agency said in a statement in February that Israel used to rely on Palestinian and other migrant workers, but the current political situation has created a huge vacuum, and India is now playing a vital role in rebuilding the regime.

This strengthening relationship not only helps Israel's failing economy survive amid the challenges of war, but has also raised serious questions about the Indian government's moral responsibility towards the workers and the genocide of the people of Gaza.