Israeli, Palestinian officials to meet over Palestinian work permits

Israeli and Palestinian officials are expected to meet later this month to discuss policies for Israeli issuance of work permits for Palestinians with the aim of improving conditions for the tens of thousands of Palestinian workers who cross into Israel daily for work.

According to the Palestinian Authority’s deputy minister of labor, the Palestinian side has made several suggestions to the Israelis ahead of the meeting.

Among these suggestions, Nasser al-Qatami told Palestinian news agency Ma’an, was improving procedures at Israeli checkpoints; “eliminating ‘middlemen’ who take advantage of Palestinians by requiring large payments for Israeli work permits and replacing them with labor offices in the West Bank tasked with permit management; allowing all employers in Israel to issue an unlimited number of permits to Palestinian workers; allowing Palestinian workers to move freely inside Israel; and extending the duration of ‘job-searching’ permits from one to two weeks.”

Currently, Palestinians with Israeli work permits are allowed to travel to their places of employment and are not allowed to reside in Israel for work purposes.

According to Palestinian estimates, some 200,000 Palestinian currently work in Israel, many of them in agriculture and construction.