Israeli arrested over ‘taxi’ service for illegal Palestinians

Bedouin resident of south to be charged with coordinating transportation for workers entering Israel without permits

By ToI Staff 8 August 2016, 5:44 pm

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Palestinian workers wait to cross the checkpoint from the West Bank town of Ramallah to work in Israel on June 4, 2013. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

A 25-year-old Bedouin man from the south of Israel was arrested by police and was to be charged Monday for allegedly running a “taxi” service to transport Palestinian workers without entry permits into and around Israel.

The unnamed man, a resident of the Bedouin town of Lakiya, was allegedly in contact with a resident of the Palestinian Authority, and together they coordinated pickup and travel for the illegal workers. The accused allegedly hired Israeli van drivers to transport the workers.

Several of the drivers have been arrested over the past few weeks, and have testified against the alleged ringleader, who was taken into custody a few days ago. He was to appear in Beersheba District Court on Monday for an arraignment hearing.

A police spokesperson said Monday that “actions against illegal workers will continue, concentrating on those who transport them and those who shelter them.”

Palestinian workers seen during construction work on new building apartment buildings in the Jewish neighborhood of Har Homa, East Jerusalem, on October 28, 2014. (Photo by Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Tens of thousands of Palestinians work in Israel each day, on hard-to-obtain permits given out by the IDF. Israeli authorities estimate that the actual number of Palestinians who enter Israel for work has on occasion reached double the number of those who actually have permits.

In March the Knesset approved a tough new law to keep out illegal Palestinian workers, as part of measures aimed at tackling a surge in attacks against Israelis.

The legislation means that the Israeli employer of a Palestinian who has entered the Jewish state without the permit could face several years in prison.

Last month a Bedouin from the south of Israel was charged with housing the two shooters who perpetrated the deadly June 8 terror rampage at the Sarona Market in Tel Aviv, in which four were killed and 41 wounded. The two shooters, along with the majority of Palestinians who commit terror attacks inside Israel, entered Israel illegally.